03 iHate My Roommate
by Pock
Summary: Sam's mom left. Will Spencer let her live with Carly or will Sam end up getting stuck living with a certain tech producer? A lot of people say they are bad at summaries... well, I'm awesome at them. You WILL click on this story! This one is great!
1. All alone

I started this story while trying to decide how to end iGo Camping. That was a long time ago :)

This was before iTwins.

* * *

Sam could not believe the situation she was in. First her dad leaves her and now her mom?

Sam's mom left the house one week ago. She has been known to do this for a day or two at a time but never, ever a whole week. At first Sam didn't even notice that her mother was missing but after three days she began to wonder.

"_Mom? Mom, are you home?" Sam called as she walked through the house. She checked the spare room, the garage... even her mom's room. Nothing... Getting mad she returned to the kitchen for a snack but then sadly remember that there was no food. As she closed the pantry she noticed a note attached to the refrigerator that she had not seen before._

_It read as follows:_

_Sam,_

_I am sorry but I have to get out. I lost my job, _

_I have no money, and no man will stay with me. I am awful _

_to you and you deserve a better mother. I am going to a new _

_state. I am changing my name and starting over. I'm sorry _

_it has to be this way, Sam. Take all of your things and stay with _

_Carly. Have a good life_

_Pam  
_

Now four days later she was in her house, rereading the note in her hands. She still could not believe that this was happening. Just then, Carly returned from Sam's bedroom with a box of Sam's things that she would be taking.

"How are you doing?" Carly asked as she set the box down and approached her best friend. Sam had a single tear in her eye that Carly wiped away. She then took the blond into her arms and hugged her.

"I've been better. So," Sam paused, "have you asked Spencer yet if I can come live with you guys?" she asked as she broke away.

"I thought we could ask him together," Carly said. "Just then, her phone began to jingle. She tapped the screen and read the text from Freddie.

_Will be there in 2 min._

_~Fred_

"Freddie's mom is coming to take us to my house. We can ask Spencer then and hopefully we will pack the rest of your things and move you in."

They walked out onto the porch and waited. Almost exactly two minutes later, Mrs. Benson pulled up in her minivan. Freddie hopped out of the front in order to open the door for the girls. What a gentlemen. They all climbed in and 10 minutes later, they arrived at Bushwell Plaza.


	2. Foster Care

For the record, I do not own iCarly. Also, Carly, Sam, and Freddie are Juniors in high school.

All iCarly cannon previous to iTwins is accepted in this story, so yes, the events of iKiss and all other episodes have previously taken place. ;-)

* * *

What do you mean, '_she can't live here'_!" Carly yelled. Sam sat on the couch, unable to speak; she was full of rage and on the verge of tears. "It's not fair!" Carly added, directing her frustration at the woman in her kitchen.

_Sam's neighbor had noticed that no one was home and called the police. A crumpled note had been found on the kitchen floor, explaining the situation. Now, after having only lived with Carly and Spencer for one day, she was being taken away._

The woman in the kitchen was from social services. Until Sam's mother returnes (which appeared to be never) she was under the care of the state and would be put in a foster home.

"Why can't Spencer adopt Sam?" Freddie asked, in frustration as he turned to look at him. Freddie was standing; pacing near Carly; his mother sat, quietly observing in the living room with Sam.

"Miss. Thomas," Spencer started calmly, "please tell me again why I cannot adopt Sam."

"I do not approve of your current home situation," she said simply. "You are still young, Spencer, and you already take care of your younger sister. I do not think you are a good candidate for a foster parent. Besides, Samantha's mother is presumably still alive making it very difficult for her to be adopted anyway. She will be placed in foster care."

"That isn't fair!" Sam yelled from the next room as she buried her head into a pillow to scream. Carly walked over and put her arms around her. She removed the pillow and spoke again. "I _want_ Spencer to adopt me! Don't I have any say in this?"

"Frankly, Samantha, no," Miss. Thomas said. "I have been assigned your case, and I think, due to your past living conditions, you need a home with more structure."

Carly and Freddie exchanged looks on skepticism as Sam started to cry. "I don't want to leave Seattle!" she said as she sobbed uncontrollably. Only Carly had ever seen Sam like this, once before. It had been when Pete had broken up with her because he liked another girl; a rather girlie-girl actually. Freddie was astonished so see Sam this way and knew that she was hurting. He _had_ to help her... he just had to. He just didn't know how.

Freddie turned to his mother, who had been observing with a rather upsetting expression on her face. She was looking back at him, her eyes swelling with tears of compassion for her son's troubled young friend.

Mrs. Benson cared a great deal about her son and cared almost as much about his friends as well.

"Miss. Thomas," Mrs. Benson spoke for the first time. "I want to give Samantha a foster home." Sam and Freddie's jaws both dropped.

"What?" they said in unison; Freddie's voice containing a bit of skepticism and Sam's hinting at annoyance.

"Are you serious, Mrs. Benson?" Carly asked.

"Yes, dear, I certainly am." She got up and walked to the table and joined Miss. Thomas and a speechless Spencer.

"Freddie's web-show is very important to him and Samantha is an integral piece," Mrs. Benson explained her logic. "Although I don't find the show enjoyable, Freddie, I just want you to be happy."

The three teens were all so shocked at Mrs. Benson's proposal that they were speechless. Freddie joined the girls on the couch and the three simply stared at the adults.

"Well, Mrs. Benson," Miss. Thomas replied. "I can assure you that I very much approve of what I perceive to be your living condition. I just have to make a few phone calls and, assuming Samantha approves, she will be allowed to live with you across the hall.

Miss. Thomas stepped out of the apartment and into the hall as she dialed a few numbers on her cellphone.

"Mrs. Benson, are you sure you want to do this?" Spencer asked her.

"Yes. I am very sure. Samantha, would you consider it?"

Sam's rage of anger and sadness had subsided and she was able to speak somewhat normally as Carly wiped tears from Sam's face.

"Mrs. Benson... um, ma'am, I don't know." Sam said.

"Well, Sam," Carly said. "You don't want to leave Seattle and you'll be living right next to me."

"Yeah, but I'll be living with _Fredweird_ and his crazy mother!" she said, not even trying to prevent then from hearing her.

"Samantha, I know you are very upset so I am going to ignore what you just said," Mrs. Benson said kindly. "Samantha, dear, you will be living near your two best friends. I want to help you

Freddie's mouth was still wide open. His urge to help Sam had quickly turned into panic because she now might be living with him!

Sam's frown turned into a smile on her teary eyed face as if she had just come to a grand realization. "I won't have to leave...Yes! Thank you Mrs. Benson, I will live with you," Sam said as she turned to hug Carly again.

"Wait!" Freddie said. "Mom, she bothers me! You know this is a bad idea."

"Fredward!" his mother replied, "Samantha will soon be under my care and you two will have to learn to get along. You say she is mean to you but I have yet to actually see it take place. I know this is the right thing to do."

Just then, Miss. Thomas poked her head back into the room.

"I just got off the phone with the agency and you are all cleared, Marissa," she said, addressing Mrs. Benson. "I will bring the papers over here after lunch. I just need your signature and Samantha's and this mess will be settled."

And with that, she closed the door and left.

* * *

Sam, Freddie, and Carly were walking down the stairs carrying boxes of Sam's things from Carly's room and the iCarly studio. They were moving them across the hall into the spare bedroom, next to Freddie's.

"Freddie, when did your mom get cool?" Sam asked with a huge smile on her face. She had come to accept that even though she would be living with the _Bensons_ of all people, it was better than being taken away.

"She mellowed out a little last year," he explained. "I still can't believe you're gonna be living with me."

"Its not like I had much of a choice. Plus, not much is gonna change, dorkboy. I'm still gonna spend most of my time over here with Carly."

"Don't be to sure, Sam," Freddie said as they crossed the hall. "She's gonna treat you like a daughter, probably. You'll have a curfew and a bed time... and tick baths."

"_What!_" Sam said, almost dropping the box of clothing.

"Just kidding. Gotcha! No, Sam, she stopped obsessing about cleanliness last year when she mellowed out."

Freddie's apartment was not much like Carly's. It was only one floor, like most of the apartments in the building. The fact that Carly and Spencer have three floors is actually rather odd. The apartment opens up into a living room and kitchen just like Carly's. Instead of stairs, there is a short hallway that leads back to a bathroom, Freddie's bedroom, and the spare bedroom that was to become Sam's room. Mrs. Benson's room was opposite the kitchen.

The teens carried the boxes to Sam's new room and found Spencer and Mrs. Benson moving around furniture. (The room had previously been used for storage.)

After several trips, all of Sam's things were in her new room. She began to unpack. Mrs. Benson knocked on the door.

"Um... come in?" she said.

"Hi Samantha. Now that you'll be living with us, you need to know a few house rules." _Here we go._ Sam thought. "You are to be home every night be 10:00 unless you ask beforehand. You are expected to be home for dinner at 5:30 unless you ask beforehand. Shoes off inside unless you are coming or going. Also, this rule applies for Freddie as well, tell me where you are going unless you are across the hall with Carly."

"Ok, I got it," Sam said. She had expected some crazy rules but Mrs. Benson seemed much more relaxed than she had been in the past.

"Oh, and Samantha, you can call me Marissa unless you prefer ma'am. 'Mrs. Benson' is so _formal_. We're like family now."

"Alright, but only if you call me Sam. 'Samantha' is so formal." Mrs. Benson chuckled at Sam's repetition of her own words. "Thank you again, Marissa." Sam said kindly.

"Sam, you are very welcome," she said back with a smile.

* * *

I know that Sam seemed very out of character this chapter but she had gone through a very emotional time. She will be back to normal and bothering Freddie in no time. I promise.

Oh, for the record, I am pretty sure that most Canadians live in igloos.


	3. Morning Pranks

I am not responsible for iCarly... however, Mrs. Benson _is_ responsible for Sam.

* * *

Freddie Benson woke up to his alarm at 7 am. The Plain White T's mixed CD in his CD clock radio was playing 'Hey There Delilah,' which happened to be the only song from them that he didn't like. A week ago, when he was making the CD on his laptop before iCarly started, Sam (knowing that he disliked that song) added it to the top of the list and removed one of the less popular songs about halfway down the list so he wouldn't notice.

This had been one of Sam's most successful pranks because not only was Freddie in a bad mood for 3 minutes and 53 seconds every morning, but he was also getting the song stuck in his head.

Freddie was getting ready to throw his cd out the window when his phone began to play 'Hey There Delilah.' _What the... Sam!_ His best bet was that yesterday, when Sam was forcing Freddie to take the last box of her things across the hall, she had grabbed his phone off the table in his living room and changed his ring tone. Freddie tapped the green button and the ringer stopped.

"Hello?" he said at his held his pearPhone to his ear.

"**Hey, Fred, can I get a ride to school? My mom is feeling sick and doesn't want to take me**_,_" said a male voice.

Usually he knew who was calling by what the ringer was but he had no idea who it was.

"Um... who is this?" he asked, slightly embarrassed as he sat up and stood out of bed.

"**Dude, Fred, its Shane**." Freddie, who was still only half awake, moved the phone away from his ear and read 'Shane' on the screen. '_I guess reading it would have been a little easier_,' he thought.

"Oh... um, right. Sorry, Sam changed my ring tones and I didn't know who you were."

"**Yeah, sure, whatever, Dude. So can you take me or not?**" Shane asked.

"Yeah, sure. I'll see you soon. Oh! And I've got a crazy story for you!" He was referring to Sam moving in.

"**Whatever, dude. See ya!**"

"See ya," Freddie said back.

Freddie tapped the red button on his phone and then gathered some clothing together. As he was about to leave the room he noticed that his bedroom door had been opened slightly. '_That's weird_,' he thought. He always closed his door.

He pushed the door open but as he did this, the textbook that his new blond roommate had set precarious on top of his door fell onto his head with a thud. "Ouch!" he cried aloud.

He expected his mom to come running at the first sign of him being in pain but then remembered that she had been switched back to the early shift at Seattle Grace hospital, where she was a nurse. '_I wonder why they keep changing when she works_.' he thought. I'll have to get Carly to take me and Shane to school. He made his way to the bathroom and turned the door knob of it didn't open. '_What's going on... oh_.' He could see the light on under the door and the shower was running. '_Sam_,' he thought. He was growing more and more frustrated with Sam. As he made his way back to his bedroom, he called Carly.

"**Hey, Freddie, how's life with Sam?**" she answered in a chipper voice.

"So far, awful. Hey, can you give us a ride to school? Mom is on morning shift at the hospital again."

"**Oh, she took the car then, didn't she. Yeah, sure, I'll take you,**" she replied.

Spencer and Carly had gotten a car for her 16th birthday. Spencer usually still drove his motorcycle everywhere, so the car was pretty much Carly's.

"Oh, and do you remember my friend Shane, from the AV club?" Freddie asked as he remembered the favor. "We had him on iCarly once."

"**I.. um... oh, yeah, Shane. Isn't he on the soccer team with you?**" she asked.

"Yeah, that's him. Well, he needs a ride too," Freddie said.

"**Ok, see you then,**" Carly said.

Freddie walked out into the hall again only to be met by Sam exiting the bathroom dressed in school clothes and with wet hair.

"Sam, did you put a book on my door this morning?" Freddie asked in frustration.

"Oh, yeah, did I get ya?" she asked as she walked into the kitchen. He followed her.

"Yes! Don't do that!" Freddie complained.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." She said opening the panty and taking out the Crispy Crunch O's.

"Wait, Sam, don't eat those. Their mine and there's not much left!" he Said as he noticed Sam's cereal of choice.

"Too bad," she said as she pored a bowl. "Looks like you're gonna have to eat Brandy Flakes. Ha."

"Dang it Sam, you change my ring tone-" Freddy started.

"Oh yeah, haha," Sam interrupted.

Freddie continued: "-hit me with a book, take my shower, and eat my food!"

"I know, I can mess with you twice as much since I live here now!" Sam seemed very happy.

"Whatever, look, we've gotta get going soon." Freddie said, grabbing a breakfast bar from the pantry. Carly is taking us to school.

"Well, let's get going nub." Just then, there was a knock on the door.

"Sam! Freddie come on, let's go!" Carly called from the hallway.

The three teens ran down the stairs, hopped into Carly's car, and headed towards Shane's house.

"Where are we going again?" Sam asked as she messed with Carly's radio.

"Shane needs a ride to school," Freddie called from the back seat.

"It's Freddie's hot friend from his soccer team," Carly said to Sam.

"Oh, yeah. I remember him... he's the guy we competed over," Sam said.

"Yeah, that's him," Carly said.

"Sorry about that, Carls. I don't like him anymore by the way," Sam added.

"Oh... good. Cus I still think he's cute," Carly added.

"Did he ever forgive us for being so crazy?" Sam asked, turning to Freddie.

"Yeah, you guy are cool," Freddie said. "He still watches the show."

"Good," Carly said with a smile as they pulled up to Shane's house. "Sam, could you get in the back?"

"You still like Shane," Sam sang with a smirk. "Ok, sure, you can sit by Shane."

Carly honked as Sam crawled into the back seat, kicking Freddie as she turned around. ("Ouch!")

Shane ran outside and opened the front door. "Hey, dudes," he said as he shut the door. "We better get going. School starts in like 10 minutes."

"Ok, let's go," Carly said, backing out of the driveway. "...So, Shane. How have you been? I haven't seen you for, like, ever," Carly said. She was trying to hide her nervousness—Freddie and Sam could both tell she still really liked him.

"I'm good Carly. Now that soccer is over I don't have anything to do except for work," Shane said.

"I thought you hang out with Fred_weird_," Sam from behind Shane.

"Yeah, dude, sometimes. What are you doing later, Fred?" Shane asked, looking back.

"Oh, um, Freddie usually comes over to my place after school," Carly said before Freddie could answer. "You can come to my house later... if you want," Carly said, hopefully.

"Wow, Freddie," Sam whispered as Carly flirted with Shane in the front seat, "Carly really likes him."

"Yeah, I know," Freddie said back. "You're not gonna be jealous or anything, are you?"

"No, I don't like Shane anymore. Plus, I want Carly to be happy," Sam said back.

"So where do you work?" Carly asked, as she fluttered her eyes at Shane.

Freddie noticed him stutter. "I... um, yeah... I work at Bandanna Republic. Usually on weekends but sometimes through the week after school..."

"He'll treat Carly good... right?" Sam asked.

"Yeah. He's a nice guy," Freddie said as Carly pulled into her parking spot.

The teens hopped out of the car and walked into the school.


	4. Science project

If you are Canadian or are interested in Canada, check out my story, 'iGo Camping'. You will love it (it's a Seddie, j2luk).

iDon't own iCarly. I _do_ own Canada. I purchased it from a hobo for real cheap. I want to buy Japan too... but I don't have enough cash yet.

* * *

Freddie sat in the back of math class, bored out of his mind. _I already know all of this stuff_ he thought as he twiddled a pencil between his fingers. Shane sat beside him, doodling on the edges of his paper. He was clearly bored too.

"Hey," Freddie whispered.

"What, Dude?" Shane said back.

"You gonna come over to Carly's apartment later?"

"Yeah, Dude, sure. Um... hey, Fred?"

"What?" Freddie asked.

"Are you, um... do you still like Carly?" Shane asked awkwardly, not knowing quite how to ask.

"Well, no not really. I sort of grew out of that crush last year. Now it's more of just a joke; Sam still loves to tease me about it."

"Oh... um, cool," Shane said.

"You like Carly, don't you?" Freddie asked.

"Yeah... sorta," Shane said back.

Freddie just smiled. He knew Carly liked him too.

Just then the bell rang. Freddie grabbed up his papers and headed towards Carly and Sam's lockers. Shane was staying back to talk to Wendy, who he was friends with.

Freddie approached Carly and Sam knowing that Shane would be coming along soon

"Hey, girls. Sam, lets walk to our next class together," he said. They had science together.

"Gross, no," Sam said but then saw Shane coming down the main hall stairs. "Ok, fine... for Carly." She turned back to Carly. "See ya, Carls." Sam and Freddie walked to science together as Shane came out of math. He walked right up to Carly.

"Hey, Carly," Shane said, approaching the brunette.

"Oh," Carly said with a small jump of surprise, dropping a notebook. "H...hey, Shane."

Shane bent down to pick up the notebook. "Here you go," he said, handing it back. "You have first lunch, right?"

"Um, yeah. Why?" Carly asked as she closed her locker.

"I've seen you there. I have first lunch period this semester too. I was thinking we could sit together and... um, hang out." Shane said rather nervously but trying to sound confident.

"Cool, I'll see you then," Carly said. "Um... bye," she said and then walked up the stairs to her class.

Shane tried to hide his goofy smile as he went to his class.

* * *

"How is it that every time we do a project in science, I get stuck with _you_ as a partner?" Freddie asked in frustration as he sat down next to Sam at the lab table.

"I don't care," Sam said. "I'm just glad to make you do all the work." She laughed at Freddie and began to draw designs on Freddie's notebook.

"Sam! Stop writing on my stuff!"

* * *

Even though Sam spent the whole class trying to bother Freddie, he managed to get all the needed research done before the bell.

"Ok, look, all we have to do is make our poster by Friday and we are done. It shouldn't be to hard since we have all week and I have all the information right here _and_ since I know exactly where to find you... my apartment.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Sam said.

"And speaking of my apartment, Sam, you can't mess with me like you did this morning. I'm not gonna put up with you..." Freddie started to ramble about her injustices and Sam pretended to listen. When the bell rang, Freddie and Sam packed up their things and then headed to the hallway. Freddie continued complaining all the way to his locker. "... and I want to be able to use my own shower in the morning if I want to and-"

"Okay! I get it, I'm sorry," Sam said cutting him off. "I couldn't resist it. I will stop messing with you in the mornings, ok?"

"Good," Freddie said.

They moved on to Sam's locker. She opened it up quickly and then unceremoniously tossed her books in on top of a heap of papers, pencils, and Fat Cake wrappings and then dug a notebook out from under it all. "Well, see you at lunch, Fred-o," Sam said. And with that they parted ways and went to class.

* * *

Shane and Freddie had weightlifting after school with the rest of the soccer team so Carly drove Sam and herself home to Bushwell Plaza.

"You coming over?" Carly asked Sam as they reached their floor.

"Naw, I'm come over later," Sam said. "I want to unpack a little... you know, finish moving into my new room."

"Mmmkay," Carly said as she opened her door. "I'm gonna clean up my apartment a little. I'll see ya later."

"Bye," Sam said as Carly's door closed and she got her ninja-pig key chain out of her bag. She instinctively grabbed her house key but then stopped once she realized it was the wrong one. Quickly, she took the key to her house key off of the ring. That key was a reminder of her hellish life with a mother that didn't even care enough to take care of her only daughter. She was going to throw the key away. She moved past the key to the Shay's apartment key that Carly and Spencer had given her a year ago and grabbed the newest key to the ring. This key had been added the night before; it was a key to the Benson's apartment.

She turned the key to her new home and pushed the door open.

"Freddie? Sam? Is that you?" Freddie's mom called from her bedroom. She came out of her room as Sam walked into the apartment. "Oh, welcome home Sam. Freddie is lifting weights in that filthy weight room isn't he?"

"Yep. He said he'd be home in an hour." Sam said as she made her way across the main room to her bedroom.

"Well, I don't know if Freddie told you but I am working the early shifts at the hospital; I'm a nurse you know. Anyway, I'll probably be going to bed around six O'clock every night and I'll be gone when you wake up in the morning. I trust my Freddie and I hope I can trust you as well to behave when I'm asleep or not around.

"Of course Mrs. Benson." Sam said.

"Oh, Dear, call me Marissa." Mrs. Benson said.

"Sure thing, Marissa. Umm... I'm going to go unpack some more." Sam said.

Mrs. Benson made some really gross tasting after-school snacks for Sam to snack on as she organized her new room. Sam ate a few but then tossed the rest off of the fire escape outside her window.

* * *

Review if you want me to keep writing!


	5. Shirtless in Seattle

Freddie Benson closed the door quietly behind him as he entered his apartment around six thirty. Knowing that his mother was likely already asleep, he did his best to stay quiet as he set down his bag on the floor by the couch. Assuming Sam was in her room or probably already at Carly's, he did not hesitate to peel his sweaty work-out shirt off of his firm, toned torso as he pushed open his bedroom door. Once inside, he was about to drop his shorts as well when he realized that he was not alone in his room. A certain curly haired blond was sitting at his desk looking at him while trying to hold back a laugh.

"Woah, Sam. What are you doing in my room?" Freddie half shouted out of surprise as he pulled his shorts back up to his belt line, re-covering his nerdy Game Station 360 boxers.

"I was messin' with your computer but apparently I'm going to watch you take off all of your clothes too," she said with a smirk and a giggle.

"Yeah, and I bet you'd like that too, wouldn't you," Freddie said in a mocking voice as he defiantly took a few steps toward her.

"Pffft, yeah sure, in your dreams... no wait, that would be Carly in your dream, wouldn't it?" Sam said, also in a mocking voice.

"Oh, come on Sam, I'm over Carly," Freddie said as he turned away from her to get fresh clothes out of his closet. "I _want_ her to date Shane; you know, if it works out... oh, and don't come into my room." Freddie said changing the subject as the initial awkwardness of the encounter returned to his mind.

"What if I get bored?" Sam said, now going through his top desk drawer and finding things like pens and computer stuff that she had no idea what it was.

"I don't know; play my Game Station, go to Carly's, I don't care," Freddie replied as he made his way to the door again. "Shane is coming over to Carly's around seven." Freddie added as he left his room and headed for the shower. He made sure to lock the bathroom door. Sam might decide to get bored again and walk in on him...

* * *

Freddie opened the bathroom door after his shower around ten minutes until seven. He was wearing a comfy pair of boxers and some jeans. He held his T-shirt in his left hand as he moved to the kitchen to find a quick dinner. His hair was not yet completely dry and his chest and back were damp still as well.

He noticed Sam sitting on the couch and decided to sit next to her. At first she ignored him completely; her focus was on her new character on Freddie's Game Station 360.

"Will you be ready to go to Carly's soon?" Freddie said as he plopped down on the couch next to Sam. Sam paused the game and looked up at Freddie with an annoyed facial expression. Once she got a good look at him, however, her mouth dropped open just a little and her speech became stuck in her mouth; she was unable to speak.

Her eyes wondered quickly up and down his toned chest and she found herself unable to resist looking—even if it was Freddie. It was at this point that Freddie had decided he was now dry enough for a shirt because he was pulling his T-shirt on. Because the shirt was over his eyes, Freddie did not catch Sam's staring.

She quickly shook her head to get the dirty thought of Freddie out of her head so that she could answer his question. "Oh,.. um, yeah, I'll be ready to go. I'll save the game," Sam said as she moved the icon down to the save option.

It was at that moment that Freddie remembered that he had not eaten anything for dinner. On the coffee table in front of him he saw a half eaten ham sandwich and an open bottle of green tea. It was obviously Sam's but he was hungry. Knowing that Sam would have done the same if it was his food, he picked up the sandwich and took a big bite...

The sandwich was halfway gone when Sam noticed what he was doing. "That was _my ham!_" Sam said in a sudden rage of anger. She surprisingly did not punch him in the face.

"Actually, my mom bought this ham so its mine," Freddie said with a mouth full of sandwich followed by a swig of tea. "You weren't eating it anyway."

She grabbed the tea back out of his hands and quickly downed the rest. In response, Freddie stuffed the rest of the sandwich in his mouth. They stared at each other defiantly; Sam with a few wild strands of hair falling in front of her face, Freddie with cheeks puffed wide due to the rather large bit he had just attempted.

"You're a nub," Sam said as she walked over to the door and put her shoes back on.

"Whatever, I was hungry," Freddie said as he too found his shoes. (He found them under the couch; Sam had hid them there just for fun a few minutes prior.)

As the dueling duo moved to the hallway, Freddie's phone began to play a silly little tone. He had changed it from the tone Sam had chosen for him.

"Hey, Shane," Freddie answered his phone. Sam suddenly became interested and tried to listen to the phone too by pressing her ear to the back of his phone. Freddie pushed her away, just to annoy her.

"_Hey, Dude_," Shane said through the phone. It was plenty laud for Sam to hear anyway. "_I just parked my bike. What floor do you live on again_?"

"The eighth floor," Freddie said

"_I'll see ya in a few,_" Shane said.

"See ya," Freddie responded as he clicked his phone shut.

"Shane rode his bike? Sam asked as she gave Carly door a few knocks. They then opened the door and walked right on in as if it was their own home. Carly was sitting on her couch.

"No, dummy, Shane rides a motorcycle," Freddie said. "His mom just doesn't want him driving it to school for some reason."

"Shane rides a motorcycle?" Carly asked as she stood up to greet her friends. Both Sam and Freddie knew that Carly thought a guy on a motorcycle was like the hottest thing ever.

"Oh, yeah," Freddie said quickly. "He gives rides to girls sometimes." Freddie said. He was actually making that up but he was gonna tell Shane to offer Carly a ride.

During science class earlier that day, Freddie and Sam had decided that they were going to do their best to hook up Shane with Carly. She hadn't had a boyfriend in a while and Shane, according to Freddie, is a really nice guy. In Freddie's eyes, a ride on the back of Shane's motorcycle would be a fun way for them to bond.

Just then there was a knock at the door. Sam and Carly had sat down on the couch so Freddie went to answer the door.

"Hey Shane," Freddie said. Carly suddenly sat up straighter and Sam noticed her quickly put a smile on her face.

"What's up, dude?" Shane said as he walked into Carly's apartment.

"Hi Shane," Carly said. "Um... glad you could make it."

"Wanna play a game," Sam said. She went over to the shelves and took off a few of the trio's favorite games.

"Yeah, sure,"Shane said as he walked into the room and sat down right next to Carly. Freddie and Sam looked at each other and shared a smile (a/n that all too much resembled sexy glances, lol). They pulled up two chairs next to each other on the opposite side of Carly's coffee table.

Carly flirted with Shane most of the evening and all four had a good time. At around eight, Spencer came running of of his room with his newest sculpture—a pick bottle bot that matched his green one. He invited them all to the wedding... and then made everyone snacks. For Freddie and Sam ate a bunch because Freddie had a tiny dinner and Sam is... well, Sam is Sam. Around nine o'clock, Shane had to get going. "Hey, maybe sometime this week we could all hang out at the Groovie Smoothie." Shane suggested as he made his way for the door.

"Oh wow, what a great idea," Carly said with a little giggle... she was really, really flirting. "I'll see you at school."

"Sure," Shane said. He looked over at Freddie and Sam. "Bye dudes," then he looked at Carly, " bye Carly." His second goodbye was softer. More heartfelt...

After he closed the door, Carly threw herself onto the couch. A smile was plastered on her face. "Oh my gosh, he is so cool!"

"When are you gonna ask him out?" Sam asked her.

"I don't know... I wish I knew if he liked me back... really I just wish he'd ask me out." Carly said dreamily.

Sam and Freddie exchanged smirks. They were doing their best not to make fun of how ridiculous Carly was being but they knew she was happy; neither wanted to ruin that.

"Hey, we're gonna go home," Freddie said.

"Good night Carls," Sam said. The two walked back across the hall to their apartment.

That night Carly had a dream that Shane took her for a ride on his motorcycle and then they got smoothies. Mmmm, smoothies.

* * *

Next chapter with be chalk full of Seddie, I promise. The more reviews I get, the quicker I'll update!


	6. Showers

As Freddie and Sam entered their apartment together after an evening of fun at Carly's, they could hear rain pattering on the windows.

"I had a good time today," Freddie said as he tossed his shoes by the front door.

"I know, right? That game is so fun." Sam said back.

"Let me check out the character you made," Freddie said, motioning toward the Game Station.

"Sure... I'm actually stuck at this bridge... how do I get past the troll?" Sam asked as she turned the game back on.

"Oh, haha, no you can't cross that bridge yet. You probably aren't even level five yet."

Sam went to the status page of her RPG character. "I'm level four," Sam said. She then resumed her game and attacked a wild boar that she found outside the village she was staying at.

As Sam killed the boar, Freddie went to the kitchen and grabbed a Peppy Cola for Sam and a Diet Cherry-Vanilla Dr. Peppy for himself. He then sat down beside her.

"Oh... thanks nub," Sam said, setting the controlled down on the coffee table in order to grab her drink.

"Ew, gross. You're drinking diet? Diet is for lameoids."

"This just so happens to be Cherry AND Vanilla flavored. It more than makes up for the fact that its diet... plus, mom won't let me have regular colas. I had to hide yours in the back of the fridge so she wouldn't see it."

"Oh. Thanks," Sam said, trying not to sound to thankful.

Freddie reached his hand out to pick up the game controller so he could take a look at Sam's character. Sam had set down her drink and reached at the same time. Their hands brushed and they both quickly pulled away. Sam could feel lightning coursing through her body. The good kind of lightning; the kind that you get when you are around someone you like; the kind she saw in Carly's eyes just thirty minutes ago.

Freddie incidentally had not felt lightning. He felt and intense warmth fill him up slowly. It started at his hand where they touched and slowly traveled up to his face as well as down past his belt line. He felt an involuntary shift in his pants as well; he was almost positive he was blushing.

_Why did Freddie make me feel this way?_ Sam asked herself as she tried to cover a blush. _I don't like him at all! He's got a super hot body but I don't care!_

They looked at each other awkwardly before Freddie once again reached for the controller. Trying to ignore the strange feelings he was experiencing he looked through Sam's inventory and stats.

"Woah, Sam, your defense is way to low," Freddie said. "Did you win the fight in the cave by the bridge?"

"Yeah, I won but barely. Do I need better armor?" Sam asked, now trying to refocus on the game. The sounds of now steady rain could be heard on the windows.

"Yeah, go to the shop and buy a shield," Freddie said, handing the controller back to Sam.

She then proceeded to go in the back door of the shop, not the front, and she then stole a shield as well as a pair of boots.

"Well, I guess that works too..." Freddie said with a chuckle.

They continued playing for an hour or so with Freddie telling Sam what to do and Sam taking most of his advise. Normally she'd tell him to shove it but the game was new to her and Freddie obviously had played in a few times. While Sam played, Freddie made popcorn and brought it back to the living room. Stating that her hands were busy, Sam ordered Freddie to feed her popcorn as she played. At first he refused but after receiving a glare that said 'I mean business' Freddie complied.

The sound of rain on the windows steadily became louder as time passed by.

"Wow, I'm getting tired," Sam said as she saved the game.

*Clap! Sam jumped as high as a kite when thunder rang through out the room. "Woah." She said in an unexpected, timid voice as she dropped the controller.

"What? Are you _scared_ of thunder or something?" Freddie mocked. He made his way into the kitchen to throw away the popcorn bag.

"N..no, I just don't-" Crack! This time it was much louder and Sam actually let out a little yelp. Freddie had a triumphant smirk on his face. "Shut up," Sam said, even though he hadn't said a thing. "So I don't like storms, big deal. Don't you dare tell anyone!" She had begun to raise her voice.

"Ok, ok, shhhhh," Freddie coaxed her voice back down. "Don't wake up mom."

"Oh, right... sorry," Sam said.

"How about I only make fun of you when its not storming," Freddie said as he walked over to her. "So you're safe until it stops raining." Freddie was chuckling. He loved teasing with Sam... but soon regretted it because she stood up and punched him in the chest—hard.

He took a step back with the blow to the torso. It hurt but he didn't let out a sound; he couldn't let Sam know she can still hurt him... even now that he has gotten stronger.

They glared at each other defiantly and then out of nowhere they grabbed each other and began to make out. Sam pushed Freddie onto the couch and straddled him as he moved his hands up the side of her shirt... ( a/n: lol, just kidding. I wish right? Not yet.)

They glared at each other defiantly and then Sam scooped up Freddie's drink and downed the rest of it and then crosser her arms, as if these actions settled the altercation, claiming Sam the victor.

"I...I'm sorry, ok Sam? If this is really a big deal, I won't bring it up... ever." Freddie said.

"Oh yeah, well..." Sam started, still angry. "wait... really? You won't bring this up?" She seemed so surprised. "Why not? I thought you hated me."

"No, Sam I don't hate you. You are one of my best friends. I... um, I do like you... um, as a friend," Freddie added awkwardly. He had not meant to tell Sam he _liked_ her. He now wished he had chosen better words.

In fact, Freddie had never, ever even considered thinking of Sam that way. How could he? He was to busy enjoying the nonstop bickering. He then wondered why he didn't see Sam as a girl. She _was_ after all rather cute, or so he thought. She has nice, soft hair... and good curves...-

Freddie shook his head, trying to removed Sam from it... but he couldn't. Once he realized that _Sam_ is a girl (and a rather physically attractive one he thought) he had a hard time getting her out.

"Cool. I like you as a friend too. I... I'm glad we're friends, Freddie."

"You really thought I _hated_ you? Freddie asked as he turned toward her. He looked into her deep... beautiful blue eyes and saw her as he had never seen her before. After having considered it a few moments ago, he now saw Sam as not just his friend... but as A female too. The sound of rain brought Freddie's mind back to the present.

Sam had waited a few seconds to reply. "Well... yeah. We do kinda fight all of the time," Sam said, stating the obvious.

"I like the fighting... sometimes," Freddie said with a little smile.

Sam giggled a little. "Yeah. Its kinda fun when-" CRASH! Thunder.

Sam jumped again, let out a soft scream, and this time she jumped forward, into Freddie. This one had been the loudest and therefor the scariest. Without even thinking she grabbed for him, subconsciously hoping he could somehow protect her from the storm.

"Um... Sam?" Freddie said, trying to avoid the awkward physical contact AND comfort her at the same time... which is very difficult to do. Sam noticed his discomfort after a second or two and reluctantly let go.

"Oh, um... sorry," she said as she quickly moved away from him... but she wished she hadn't. Freddie's strong muscles were exactly what she needed to feel safe; even if it is _Freddie_.

Freddie found himself wishing she had not backed away either. It was nice to be that close to a girl... even if it was Sam (who Freddie now sees as much more of a girl than he used too. She is attractive and she has a weak side, even if its just a fear of storms).

"I... um, I think I'm gonna go to bed," Sam said, turning quickly toward her room. This situation was starting to feel a little weird.

"Oh," Freddie said, also turning toward the bedrooms. "Yeah, me too."

"Um... good night _friend_," Sam said with a goofy smile as she put emphasis on 'friend'.

"Ha ha, yeah, good night _buddy_, Freddie said back while air quoting 'buddy'.

Sam got ready for bed with a smile on her face. It was good to know that Freddie doesn't _hate_ her. It was good to know that he cares.

As Freddie stripped down to his boxers, he noticed a little firmness where he had not expected to see it. _Am I turned on? Is it Sam? ... No... no way. I mean yes she is in fact a girl... a rather attractive girl... but no, not attractive to me._ In his mind, he fully denied any attraction to her even though, without realizing it, he thought Sam was hott. Not wanting his erection to last all night, he put on a pair of soccer shorts over his boxers, hoping that the extra pressure would force him to relax... it did.

Freddie had almost fallen completely asleep when his ears detected a very quiet noise. It was almost impossible to hear considering that the storm was raging outside. It was the noise of his bedroom door opening. "Mom?" he asked, half asleep.

"Freddie, its me," Sam said in a hushed voice as she closed the door behind her.

"What do you want?" he asked not moving. "Go to bed Sam."

"Freddie... its the storm," she said, still refusing to speak but instead continuing to whisper as if thunder would sound if she spoke up.

Freddie was now fully awake again and sat up in his bed. Normal he would be wearing only his boxers and was now very thankful he had put on a pair of shorts as well. He didn't was _Sam_ looking at him in his boxers.

Freddie looked toward Sam. The moon light shone through the window onto her body and face so that he could see her outline and facial expression. She was wearing a T-shirt and what looked like a pair of boy's boxers. He was not surprised. The look on her face, however, was surprising. It was a look of fear and neediness. Lightning cracked outside once more lighting up the room. Sam let out another yelp as she clutched a blanket to her chest; a single tear escaped her eye.

"Wah...what do you want me to do?" Freddie asked. Sam took a deep breath, as if gathering all of her courage, and moved over to his bed. She sat down and faced him.

"Don't laugh!" She accused.

"I'm not laughing, Puckett! What is wrong?" Freddie said in a hushed 'yelling' voice.

"I'm scared of thunder, ok." Sam said, hanging her head in defeat.

"Ok, so what do you want_ me_ to do abou-" before Freddie could finish, Sam cut him off.

"I don't know why but I've always been afraid of thunder when I was younger I would crawl in bed with my mom and dad and I felt safe." Sam rambled two sentences together without stopping. She continued increasing her talking speed. "And it got worse when my dad left me cus mom usually got mad when I tried to sleep with her andnowmomisgoneandIdon'tknowwhattodo!" Sam said quickly as if it pained her to talk to him about it.

"Um... you can sleep with me I guess..." Freddie said hesitantly. Normally sleeping with Sam would be weird and WAY out of the question by this was just so terrible. He had to help his friend if he could.

Dropped the blanked she had been clutching and got under the covers with him. Not knowing what to do, Freddie lied back down on his back, trying unsuccessfully to not touch her. He put his hands behind his head as he normally did when he lied this way.

"I...um," Sam stuttered. "Don't you dare tell anyone about this!" she said. She was becoming herself again.

"Yeah, um... ok. Sam, why do you need me fo-"

"Look! I know it sounds stupid but I need to... um... feel protected. So protect me damn it!" It was more of a command than a request.

"Ok. um... I'm here. Its gonna be ok," Freddie said awkwardly. He was hoping he was having a stupid dream and would be waking up soon.

"You comfort like a nub," Sam said. "But thanks... I... I needed that."

Sam then scooted closer to him and put her hand on his chest. She was laying on her side.

As Sam touched him, Freddie's heart jumped. He was so confused.

Thunder sounded again and Sam was now attempting to bury her head into Freddie's side. She had not wanted to bother Freddie or let him see her this weak but she needed someone when it stormed. Just having a friend made relaxing ten times easier and his strong muscles made her never want to leave their safety.

"Thanks," she whispered. She soon drifted off to sleep.

Freddie, however, did not fall asleep so fast. _What the hell!_ was all he could think. _Sam is in my bed with me... holding me like its the end of the world... and I think I like it!_

It was odd, but Freddie found that he was rather enjoying having such an attractive girl in his bed; although, he had played out in his head having a girl in his head... it had just not been Sam. He could smell her hair. It smelled like flowers. His arm on her side had somehow become her pillow and Freddie was having a hard time being comfortable like this.

He quietly turned his body toward her so that they were on their sides facing each other. She apparently was not completely asleep because she moved the hand that had been on her chest around him and he did the same to her with his free arm. They had formed a rather awkward looking yet very comfortable hugging position.

Freddie's mouth was now right in front of Sam's forehead and he suddenly had the urge to kiss it. He fought this urge however because he by no means ever wanted to kiss Sam... again... or at least he tried to tell himself that.

The next morning had been rather awkward for the both of them. Freddie's alarm for school went off like always. It was still 'Hey There Delilah.' Freddie groaned at the song as he slowly woke up. Sam laughed out laud when she heard it. From him hearing her laugh and from her hearing the alarm, the both suddenly remembered the night before.

Freddie's eyes shot open to find his arch-frienemy in his bed with him. They were still holding each other tight yet they were glaring at each other as if they would both rather be anywhere else. After their eyes exchanged a few more moments of pure hate, Sam pushed Freddie's arms off of her. "Ok Benson, get off."

"Well, I'm glad to see the storm didn't get you," Freddie said in a mocking voice.

"Shut up! I thought we were friends," she said as she grabbed the blanket off the floor so she could put it back on her bed.

"We are, Puckett," Freddie said with disgust.

"Don't you dare tell anyone I'm afraid of-"

"Ok, ok,' Freddie interrupted her. "I won't tell anyone you're afraid... Wait, does this mean you're gonna come running in here every night that it storms?"

"What if it does?" Sam said, moving to the door. "I know you don't mind. Its not like you've ever had a girl in your bed before," she mocked and then opened the door and went back to her room.

Just then Freddie's phone buzzed. It was a text from Shane.

_I need a ride again. _

Was all it said.

Freddie replied.

_Sure, I'll tell Carly we need to get u._

_~Fred_

Freddie then texted Carly and set his phone down. _Wow, I need a shower._ He thought. He could smell Sam on him. She had a flowery scent that he actually liked but going to school smelling like Sam is probably a bad idea. _Wait... shower!_ Freddie grabbed a pair of boxers and jeans and ran out of his room as fast as he could. Apparently Sam had been thinking the same thing because she burst out of her room at the some moment. They raced 5 feet down the hall to that bathroom; Freddie was not going to let Sam steal the shower again and Sam had a look of mischief on her face. Freddie's room was closer to the bathroom so he got there first. He pushed Sam away and quickly locked the door before she could pull it back open.

"Ha!" He shouted from the other side of the door as he took off his shorts to get in the shower.

"Just hurry up, nub. I need to shower today too!"

Freddie removed his boxers and hopped in the shower. When he closed the curtain he heard a click and then the bathroom door opened up wide.

"Sam!" Freddie shouted.

"What? You're in there and I'm not lookin'. I just need to brush my teeth." As uncomfortable as Freddie was he decided not to fight this one and turned on the water. After brushing her teeth she took of her clothes as well and wrapped herself up in a towel. This was the protocol on days she spent the night with Carly and, even if Freddie was a boy, she didn't see much of a difference. Once Freddie was done they would switch and he could dry off and get changed after she started her shower. Sam's presence made him take a much quicker shower than he normally would which is exactly what she was hoping for. When he finished he grabbed the towel from over the curtain and did his best to dry off.

"Come on Benson, I need a turn and you're taking forever!" Sam said as she finished

"I'm not coming out if you are standing right there." Freddie said.

"Dude, just wrap your towel around yourself and get out. I need a shower too." Sam said.

He did as he was told and was rather shocked to find that Sam was also wearing only a towel then he stepped out. Dirty thoughts ran through his head and he did his best to beat them away.

"Eyes up, dude," Sam said as she pushed past him and got in the shower. The curtain closed and Freddie saw the towel she had been wearing now hanging over the curtain rod. Once the water was running again he snapped back into reality and finished drying off. He had brushed his put on his pants and brushed his teeth by the time Sam was done. She had taken a rather quick shower as well. He left the room and found a shirt.

Five minutes later Freddie and Sam were fully clothed chewing breakfast bars and knocking on Carly's door. She answered and they went to go pick up Shane.


	7. Groovie Smoothie

The ride home from school today was much like their ride there.

Freddie and Shane did not have weightlifting today so they rode home with the girls. Shane was sitting in front with Carly, messing with the radio and talking about some video he had seen on splashface.

"It kinda reminded me of one of the games you play on iCarly," Shane said as he described it. Carly giggled as Shane continued his story.

Meanwhile, Freddie and Sam were bickering in the back seat.

"Stop it Sam!" Freddie was saying as he smacked away her hands. She was poking him while he was trying to read.

"No! Ha ha. 'poke, poke, poke'," she said. "Why are you reading anyway? Reading is for nubs."

"This is for our science project and I was kinda hoping for a good grade," Freddie said as he reluctantly put his book away. Sam stopped poking him when he did this. "We should make our powerslide when we get home today."

"Yeah, yeah... I want a smoothie," Sam said.

"Hey, that sounds good," Carly said from the front seat. "What do you think, Shane?"

"Yeah, dude, lets get smoothies," Shane replied.

Carly pulled the car into the Groovie Smoothie parking lot as Freddie texted his mom.

**Went to get smoothies with the girls.**

**~Fred**

"Why do you tell your mom everywhere you go?" Sam asked as the four piled out of the car.

"Its just a house rule," Freddie said. "You have to do it too if you go anywhere..."

Once inside, Shane offered to buy Carly's smoothie for her—she was thrilled. Sam decided that Freddie should do the same for her so she made him buy her smoothie too. T Bo had muffins-on-a-stick and they actually looked pretty good so Freddie got one of those too. Sam stole it from him.

As they sat down at a table by the window the door opened. Wendy and Gibby walked in.

"Hey, Gibson, what up!" Sam called.

"Hi Wendy. Hi Gibby," Carly said. "What are you guys up to?"

"Oh, nothing," Wendy said. "Just hanging out. Mind if we join you?"

"Sure," Carly and Freddie said simultaneously. They then exchanged funny looks followed by laughs.

The six friends talked about school and sports as they sipped their smoothies. Time flew as the conversation skipped from soccer and football to cheer leading to science projects and then to band class.

Gibby and Wendy were some of the few people that successfully played in the band _and_ participated in athletic events. Gibby was the starting center on the football team and also played concert tuba. Wendy was first chair flute and also a cheerleader. Because they were both involved in band and sports, Wendy and Gibby had begun to spend a lot of time together.

After their smoothies were gone, Shane offered his house up for a hangout session. The boys piled into Gibby's jeep and the Girls followed in Carly's car. During the car rides to Shane's house, quite a bit of conversing took place.

"So, Wendy, are you and Gibby, like, dating?" Carly asked as she drove.

"Oh, well, no. We've been friends for a while but we just started hanging out a lot more because of band." Wendy answered.

"Oh, come on," Sam said. "He bought your smoothie for you. _I_ think he likes you."

"Yeah, I wish..." Wendy said.

"Wait, so you do like him?" Carly said in surprise.

"Well, yeah, whats not to like. He's funny and handsome and great at music. He's even a football player." Wendy said with a grin.

"I don't know about the handsome thing but you've got a point. Ask him out!" Sam said to Wendy from the back seat.

"Oh, no I couldn't. Girls don't do that." Wendy said back.

"Sure they do," Sam said. "Carly here is going to ask Shane out, aren't you Carls."

"Oh, gee. I want to but I just get so nervous!" Carly said

"Wendy, you're cute _and_ popular. Gibby has to like you. Why else would he buy your smoothie for you."

"I asked him to before we even got there," Wendy said. "I left my money at home. Besides, if buying smoothies means that a guy likes you then Freddie must be _crazy_ about you, Sam. You got a smoothie and a muffin too."

"Woah, no way Freddie likes me," Sam said quickly.

"Well, I could see you two together," Wendy said.

"So Gibby, how come Fred and me didn't see you yesterday at the Gym?" Shane asked as they got into the car to go to his house. (The football team and soccer team lifted together on Mondays and Wednesdays.)

"Oh, I had a Doctor's appointment." Gibby replied.

"I wish it was still soccer season," Freddie said to the guys as Gibby pulled out into the street.

"Yeah, I am going to miss football season. I can believe our last game is this Friday." Gibby said. "Are you guys coming to the game?"

"Of course, dude. How could we miss homecoming?" Shane said.

"So, Shane," Gibby said. "Whats up with you and Carly?"

"Oh, um, nothing," Shane said.

"Come on dude, you guys were flirting a lot back there," Gibby said.

"Well I do like her," Shane said "I think I will ask her out. Think she'll say yes?"

"I bet she will," Freddie said knowingly._ Carly is going to be thrilled._ Freddie thought.

Shane's living room turned into small party. Gibby, Freddie, Wendy, and Carly played Shane's Win-tendo and Shane and Sam got popcorn and chips out to snack on.

After they had been there for awhile Freddie said, "Hey its almost five, Sam and I should get home for dinner."

"Hey, I should probably get home too," Wendy said.

"Oh, but I'm having fun,"Carly said as she and Shane played tennis on the game system.

"Hey, I could take you home later if you wanted to stay a little longer. You don't mind riding on the back of my motorcycle, do you?" Shane asked.

"Oh, no, that sounds fine." Carly said. She reached into her bag then tossed her keys to Freddie. "See you guys later."

Everyone said bye and Gibby drove Wendy home. Freddie and Sam took the Shay's car back to Bushwell Plaza Parking Garage and then took the elevator up to the eighth floor. Mrs. Benson was waiting for them.

"Oh, there you are. Have you kids eaten? I know you got smoothies..." Mrs. Benson said.

"Actually we just had some snacks. We will probably eat later," Freddie said.

"Ok, well, I work tonight again so I am going to bed now."

"Marissa," Sam said. "When _do_ you work? I know its, like, in the middle of the night."

"Oh, I work from 2 am till 10 am at the hospital. I am getting paid much more than I was before and they really need help at night so I don't mind."

"Good night mom," Freddie said as Mrs. Benson went to bed.

Freddie tried to convince Sam that they should make their poster for their science project but they ended up playing his gamestation instead. She played the same game as before and Freddie helped by telling her what to do. Once she reached level 8 he told her about a little known side quest that would give your character a pet. Sam picked the eagle.

The cool thing about having a pet was that it helped you fight in battles. You can feed it and pet it to make it like you more. Also, if the second controller is plugged in, another player could control the pet.

"Why do you keep flying into trees and attacking random other birds?" Sam asked as Freddie made Mr. Fluffy take eggs from a robin's nest.

"Mr. Fluffy gets experience just like your character does," Freddie explained. "I am getting him to a higher level so he will do well when I am not controlling him. Oh, also, you can sell those eggs I got from the nest."

"Oh, cool..." Sam said back.

With Freddie playing as her eagle, Mr. Fluffy, Sam leveled her warrior elf up to level 11 and together they beat the troll guarding the bridge to the next town.

After several hours passed Freddie said this: "Hey, its getting late. We should go to bed."

They turned off the game and went to their rooms.

Freddie went into his room and removed his shirt and pants. He was going to hop in bed when he remembered that he didn't finish his math homework. Freddie moved to his desk and opened his book when he heard a noise at the window.

Next thing he knew the window was pushed open from the outside and Sam poked her head in.

"Sam!" Freddie said in a hushed voice as he quickly reached for his pants that had fallen on the floor.

"Why is it that every time I come in here you never have your clothes on?" Sam said as she leaned in even farther.

Freddie pulled his jeans back on and said, "What are you doing on the fire escape?"

"Hey, I just got board and I figured I'd bother you plus your door is locked so I came this way," Sam said. "Come out here, its really cool."

"Um, yeah, I know. I actually sit out there a lot," Freddie said. "Its where I go to think."

Freddie stepped out and joined Sam on the fire escape.

"Aren't you cold?" Sam said sounding surprised. Freddie had not put his shirt back on, just his pants. Sam was attempting not to stare at his muscles but she was failing.

"No, I'm fine," Freddie said. "...Hey, this reminds me of... wait, never mind."

"...of the last time we were on a fire escape together?" Sam asked. "Yeah, I just remembered too."

"Well, except it was the hall fire escape, not this one," Freddie commented.

"Hey, I thought we weren't ever going to talk about that..." Sam said as she took a step away from Freddie and moved closer to the rail.

"Well... its been like three years and Carly and Spencer found out so... who are we hiding it from?" Freddie asked as he joined her at the railing.

"Yeah, I guess its not that big of a deal to talk about your first kiss," Sam said. "Plus, I'm sure you've kissed tons of girls since then.

"Well, um, actually the only other girl I've kissed is Carly and that was just because Wesley dared us. You remember... at the homecoming party last year."

"Oh, ha ha, yeah that hardly counts, " Sam said.

"Thats when I knew I didn't like her anymore. I had been starting to feel like I was getting over her but I still wasn't to sure. Then when she agreed to do the kiss because of the dare I thought maybe this was, like, my chance, or something..."

"And?" Sam asked.

"It was awful," Freddie said. "It was awkward. I didn't feel a spark or anything and I knew I didn't like her like that anymore."

"I always wondered why you stopped chasing her..."

"So what about you?" Freddie asked.

"What about me?" Sam replied.

"Have you kissed anyone else?"

Sam hesitated. She really, really wanted to say that she had kissed Pete when they dated. She sighed.

"Nope. I haven't kissed anyone else either."

She looked at Freddie as she said this and he looked right back at her. Neither was quite sure why but they both quickly looked away from each other and instead looked out over the city.

For Freddie, that brief moment of eye contact had felt very awkward. _I have only had one enjoyable kiss, and it was from _Sam_ of all people_. The fact that they were once again on a fire escape did not help. Thoughts of the kiss kept creeping their way back into his brain and he could not stop thinking about Sam. Her lips, her hips, her body... He felt almost _nervous_ around her.

Sam was feeling equally as awkward. She had been friends with Freddie for years but as the years went by, he had gotten more and more attractive. The background picture on her phone was one that Spencer had taken of her, Freddie, and Carly at the beach this past summer. She would never admit it to anyone but the reason she kept this picture there was so that she could look at Freddie's muscles any time she wanted. The thought of Freddie himself repulsed Sam. _No! This is the dork I used to beat up! He is _not_ attractive_. But no matter what she could not deny; joining a sports team along with regular workouts had turned him into a physically attractive young man... and as much as she tried to deny this to anyone that suspected it, she really liked looking at Freddie's chest and abs.

Sam and Freddie could see pretty far from the fire escape shared by their windows. They watched as the Groovie Smoothie's lights went out; it was closing time.

"I'm actually getting kinda cold," Freddie said.

"Um, thats cus you didn't put your shirt back on, dipthong," Sam said as she turned back to look at him.

Freddie laughed. "Don't even try to pretend like you don't like it," he said.

"Whatever, Benson," Sam said, attempting to deny it, but her eyes betrayed her. She had been forcing herself not to look at his firmly toned chest and abs but now that she was looking Sam could not turn away.

Freddie caught her staring and waved his hand in front of her eyes—it broke her gaze. "Umm, seriously, you can stare later, I'm going back inside."

Sam was slightly embarrassed. Freddie went back into his room and Sam followed him.

"Oh, so you're coming into _my_ room _again_?" Freddie inquired.

"Yeah, sure, I told you I'm bored," Sam said.

"The Groovie Smoothie just closed, that means its after midnight," Freddie said.

"Yeah, so? I'm not tired." Sam said as she closed the window behind her and then plopped down on Freddie's bed.

"Ok, whatever. I have to finish my homework anyway." Freddie sat back at his desk, this time with pants but still shirtless, and began his homework. Sam grabbed Freddie's pairphone off his side table, changed this ringtone back to "Hey There Delila" and then began to listen to his music.

After Freddie was done with his work he looked back at his bed. Sam was laying down with his ears buds in and she looked like she was asleep.

"Sam?" Freddie asked. "Are you asleep?"

Sam opened one eye and replied, "I was..."

"I'm going to bed, its late," Freddie stated as he sat at the edge of his bed near Sam.

"Not so fast, Benson," Sam said as she sat up and got out of his bed. "I know you just loved that there was a girl in your bed last night but this is not going to be a regular thing."

"I wasn't expecting it to be, _Puckett_," Freddie replied.

Sam walked to the door and stepped into the hall. "See ya in the morning."

And with that she left.


	8. Carly's Boyfriend

Freddie had decided to stop bothering with locking doors; Sam always managed to get in anyway so what was the point in trying to stop her. He woke up Wednesday morning to "Hey There Delilah" for the third day in a row. He then got out of bed, walked over to his CD player, and swapped out the CD for one by Reliant K.

Freddie grabbed some clean clothes and walked to the bathroom. He could hear the water running and assumed Sam was already in the shower. He found that she did not lock the door so he walked on in and began brushing his teeth.

Sam heard Freddie come in and chuckled, realizing that he was starting to get how things were going to work around here. It made her laugh knowing that she can still get whatever she wants, whether it be free entry into whatever room she wanted into or the ability to access the restroom even if someone else was showering.

After rinsing the flowery shampoo out of her hair Sam turned off the water. "You decent, Benson?" she asked as she wrapped the towel around her slender body.

"Yeah, come on out and hurry up," Freddie said back to her.

As she moved the curtain to the side she noticed Freddie's eyes wondering. This secretly made her happy. Sam stepped out of the shower and moved past him, ignoring his gaze.

Freddie caught himself checking out Sam again. It was much easier seeing as she was barely covered up by her large towel. He moved past her and got into the shower. The whole 'sharing a bathroom' thing and quick shower changes were still a little weird for Freddie but it was a little less awkward than yesterday. He could tell that Sam was already totally comfortable with it since he suspected she shared a bathroom with Carly when she spent the night… It was much faster and made a lot of sense. Nevertheless, he was very tempted to try to peek out of the shower since she likely was drying off and therefore was not covered by the towel. As much as he would like to see a female in the nude, however, he did not peek.

Twenty minutes later Freddie and Sam found themselves finishing off their cereal bowls and heading across the hall in order to catch a ride from Carly.

--

Carly drove Sam back to her place after school. Freddie and Shane (and Gibby) were lifting weights for sports so they were alone.

"You coming over?" Carly asked as they reached the eighth floor.

"Sure," Sam replied. "I don't have anything else to do."

The girls went into Carly's apartment and Sam went straight for the fridge. "Do you guys have any bacon?" Sam asked.

"You are gonna have bacon for an after school snack?" Carly asked as she turned on the TV.

"Sure why not?" Sam replied. She then found a frying pan and started cooking it.

Just then Spencer walked in from his room. "Hey girls, what's the happy-haps?" he said enthusiastically.

"Oh, just watching Nickelodeon…" Carly said.

"…and frying bacon," Sam finished.

"Ooooh, bacon sounds gooood," he said walking over to Sam. "Make me some too."

"Sure," Sam said as Spencer got a carton of milk from the fridge.

"So what are you two up to today?" Spencer asked. He then drank straight from the milk carton.

"I'm gonna start my homework after Victorious is off," Carly said, indicating the television.

"And I'm gonna surf the net for funny stuff," Sam added, chomping on the bacon.

"Is Freddie still coming over later?" Spencer asked, also eating bacon.

"Yeah, we are planning iCarly," Sam said, moving over to the computer on the counter.

"Ok, cool," Spencer said. "Me and Socko are making a giant pair of socks to go with my giant pants sculpture," he began. "The museum I'm working for wants to clothe a giant man. Its gonna be awesome!!!"

"Sounds great," Carly said.

"You guys gonna behave while I'm gone?" he asked, heading for the door.

"No promises," Sam said. Spencer chuckled as he left.

"So, Carly," Sam said as she moved over to the couch and sat with her. "How did it go with Shane yesterday? I would have asked earlier but I hardly saw you at school today."

"Oh my gosh, it was awesome!" Carly began, turning away from the TV. "I got to ride on the back of his motorcycle. It was so cool. Oh, and you didn't see me at school today because he and I met up between our classes just to talk."

"No way, that cool," Sam said. She was excited for Carly.

"But wait, I didn't tell you the best part!" Carly said

"Ok, kid, spit it out," Sam said, not knowing what to expect.

"After school today, Shane asked me to be his girlfriend!" Carly half screamed.

"No way!" Sam said excitedly. "You're going out with Shane now? How come you didn't tell me in the car?"

"I wanted to wait to tell you and Freddie together but I just couldn't wait any longer," Carly said

"So, when are you guys hanging out next?" Sam asked.

"Tomorrow, I think," Carly said. She could hardly wait until she got to see Shane again; that much was obvious to Sam.

--

Freddie went to _Burger me, Billy's_ with Gibby after his workout and then Gibby dropped him off at Bushwell. He made his way up to Carly's place.

"What up, Nub?" Sam greeted him as he walked in with his sack of food. His hair was moist.

"Is it raining?" Carly asked, noticing his dampness.

"Yeah, I think it's going to storm," Freddie said as he sat down to eat his burger. (Sam stole some fries when he wasn't looking.)

"Hey, Freddie guess what?" Carly said.

"Whaff?" Freddie asked with a mouth full of burger.

"Shane asked me out!" Carly said.

"Awesome, Carly," Freddie said after he finished chewing.

"I know; we are hanging out tomorrow!" Carly added.

Freddie looked over at Sam and they shared a smile. They had both wanted this to happen and had done a little bit of nudging to get Shane to do it.

"So, are you guys ready to rehearse?" Carly said as Freddie scarffed down the rest of his food.

And with that they headed up to the studio to get ready for Friday's show.


	9. Fire Escape

Hi there! I don't own iCarly or Girlie Cow… but I do own Microstuff PowerSlide. You have my permission to using it in one of your own stories instead of Microsoft PowerPoint, which I don't own either.

After rehearsing, Sam and Freddie went home for dinner. Mrs. Benson made spinach puffs for dessert (which to Sam's surprise actually didn't taste half bad).

"Freddie, Sam, I have to work very early again tomorrow morning," Mrs. Benson said. "You should get your homework done and then maybe read a book. Reading at least 20 minutes every day keeps your mind healthy. Well, good night." She then walked down the hall and closed her door.

"Where does your mom come up with this stuff?" Sam asked as she got up from the table, leaving her plate where she had sat.

"I think she just makes stuff up to get me to do stuff. Apparently she wants me to read more… hey, Sam, put your plate in the dishwasher," Freddie said, seeing the mess she had left.

"Nah, you can do that. I'm going to watch TV," Sam said, moving over to the couch.

Freddie was not happy but cleaned up after Sam anyway. "You know, Sam, we really should do our science project."

"What project?" Sam asked only half paying attention.

"The one that was assigned on Monday. Its due on Friday," Freddie said, joining her in the living room.

"Oh, yeah. I guess I figured you would have already done that." Sam replied.

"Oh, no you don't," Freddie said, walking in front of the TV.

"Hey, move it, Benson, I'm watching—"

"Sam, I always get stuck doing all the work on these things and this time you are going to help," Freddie said.

"And what if I don't care?" Sam said as she stood up, glaring at him defiantly.

"Then I'll tell everyone at school that you are afraid of storms." Freddie said with a smirk.

Sam reached out and smacked him across the face. "You dishrag! You said you wouldn't tell anybody!" Sam was getting ready to hit him again.

"Holy cheese, Sam calm down!" Freddie said backing away. "I was bluffing. I would never, ever tell your secret. We're supposed to be friends, _remember_?"

"Oh…" Sam said, lowering her fists. "Um, sorry about your face."

"But it would mean a lot to me if you actually helped," Freddie said, moving toward her again. "I know you don't exactly give a cheesy pita about your grades but you know that I care about mine. Can we try to do this together?"

Freddie was asking nicely, almost begging. Sam just couldn't say no. "Ok, fine, I'll help with the project, whatever. Can't I just watch this first? Girlie Cow just started and it's a new episode."

"Sure, whatever," Freddie said joining her on the couch. "Why do you like this show anyway? It's so dumb."

Freddie received a glare so intimidating that he was tempted to run and hide in his room but instead he just starred right back. Their eyes locked and Sam took this as a challenge and continues her stare. Freddie shifted his head and mouth, making a funny face, all while keeping his eyes lock on Sam's. Sam's poker face faltered as she tried to hold back a chuckle. Her eyes were almost burning but she would not let Freddie win their impromptu staring contest so without any warning she reached out and flicked his ear—hard.

Freddie recoiled and blinked all at once. "Puckett, what the chiz?"

"I win," she stated simply with her signature smirk now plastered on her face. She turned her attention back to Girlie Cow which was now back from commercial.

Not wanting to deal with Sam right now Freddie went to his room.

Ugh, Sam! _She is so frustrating sometimes!_ Freddie opened up peartunes and started playing some Relient K. Even though it was nowhere close to Christmas time, he really like their Christmas music so he put that on. He then laid down on his bed and closed his eyes. He then suddenly realized how tired he was. _Maybe I'll just take a little nap until Girlie Cow is over…_ he thought.

A little while later Freddie started to stir. He noticed something was different, the music had changed. He was listening to Cuddle Fish. _Thats weird that they were in my Christmas playlist_ thought Freddie. He slowly opened his eyes and turned to find a young wavy-haired blonde sitting in his desk chair.

"What are you doing?" Freddie said as he sat up.

"Well its about time Sleepy Head. I've basically finished already," she replied.

Freddie looked at the screen. Sam had already finished a PowerSlide presentation on the greenhouse effect and was typing out what she and Freddie would say during class.

"Wow, you did all of this!" he said, remaining seated on his bed but looking over her shoulder at the PowerSlide.

"Yeah, nothin' to it," she said back.

"I'm surprised. I thought we were going to do that together," Freddie exclaimed.

"Well, it's like you said earlier, I always stick you with all the work. It's my turn," Sam said with a grin.

"Cool, thanks," Freddie said. "Well, now what do you want to do? I thought the project was going to take a lot longer."

"You have any good movies?" Sam said as she saved the PowerSlide and then checked her Splashface page.

"I actually just downloaded 'The First Airbender,'" Freddie replied. It's in my downloads folder.

"Oh, cool, I love that show and I haven't seen the movie yet!" Sam said enthusiastically. She set the movie up to play and then turned the monitor to face the bed. She then stole Freddie's pillow and sat next to him on the bed.

When the movie was over Freddie looked over at Sam. She had fallen asleep. This was no surprise, the movie wasn't as good as Freddie thought it would be and it was pretty late anyway.

Freddie decided to step out onto the fire escape and look at the stars. It was just something he did when he didn't know what else to do and he wanted to be alone and think. He was thinking about Sam and how in just a few days quite a few things had changed. He looked out over the city as far as he could see. The Groovie Smoothie still had its lights on.

Stepping out on the fire escape had cause Freddie to remember last night. He had been out here with Sam, and for the life of him he couldn't remember why he hadn't had his shirt on.

"Hey," said a voice from behind Freddie. Sam was leaning out of the window looking at him.

"Hey to you," Freddie said back.

"What are you doing out here?" Sam asked.

"Looking at the stars," Freddie said back to her.

"You're so weird," Sam said, stepping out of the window but then sitting down on the edge of it.

Neither of them said anything for a few minutes.

"You're thinking about it again, aren't you," Sam said. Freddie knew she was talking about the kiss.

"Ha ha, yeah, how'd you know?" Freddie asked.

"Being out here on the fire escape with you just makes me think of it too," she said.

"Do you think it's weird?" Freddie asked.

"What that we kissed?" Sam asked.

"No, that we've only ever kissed each other?" Freddie asked.

"What, so Carly doesn't count now?" Sam asked.

"What I meant is that our kiss was the only one I really enjoyed…" As soon as he said it he felt even weirder. He had sort of been thinking out loud.

"You liked it?" Sam asked.

"I… um, oh," Freddie stammered. "Yeah, I guess. I'm guessing you didn't. Sorry if it was bad. I…"

"No, I… um, I did like it," Sam corrected him. She felt herself blush. Hopefully it would be to dark out here for Freddie to see it.

"Oh. Er, cool," Freddie said awkwardly.

"Yeah, I do," Sam said.

"You do what?" Freddie asked.

"I think it's weird that we kissed each other… and that we liked it too," she said, not looking at him. The wind was starting to blow faster.

"I think it's going to rain," Freddie said.

Sam quickly turned to go inside and Freddie followed closely behind.

"It's late. I think I'm gonna go to bed," Sam said. "Good night Freddie."

"Night, Sam," Freddie said. He watched her leave, focusing on her wavy hair as she closed his bedroom door behind her.

Freddie changed into a pair of shorts and took off his shirt. He never could get to sleep with a shirt on unless it was really cold. _Why can't I get her out of my head?_ he wondered.

He kept replaying the kiss in his mind. The only difference was that in his mind it was not three years ago, it was three minutes ago. She had been sitting on the windowsill just like she had before. In his mind he was walking over to her wordlessly, sitting next to her, cupping her face in his hand, and kissing her full on the mouth.

_Okay, seriously, this had to stop_ he thought. _Sam may be cute but she's my friend and I am NOT interested in her like that._

Freddie drifted off to sleep attempting to keep Sam away from his thoughts but all he managed to do was get her off of the windowsill and into the bathroom.

_It was a Saturday morning and his mom was at work. Sam and he were both in need of a shower but Sam beat him there. Freddie knocked on the door, wearing only a pair of boxers and holding a towel over his shoulder. "Come in," Sam said. He walked in expecting Sam to already be in the shower and they would switch places when she was done. Instead, he found her brushing her hair wearing just her towel._

"_Oh, sorry, I thought you were already in the shower. I can wait," Freddie said nicely._

"_No, Freddie, I don't want you to wait. I was waiting on you," Sam said. Before Freddie could ask what she was talking about she started to undo her towel…_

*Knock knock knock*

Freddie heard his bedroom door opening. He sat up and saw Sam walking in, closing the door behind her.

"F-Freddie it's storming again," Sam said

He was now awake enough to realize that Sam in the bathroom was a dream, although he was still a little aroused from the dream.

"Come here," he said moving over, making room in his bed. Sam crawled in next to him and lay on her side. He was now fully awake. He checked the clock. It was 2 a.m. "Sam, don't worry about the storm, ok?" he said. He then put his arm over her and pulled her close.

"Thanks for being here, Freddie," Sam said. She relaxed in his arm, comforted to know that she didn't have to worry about the storm.


	10. Seddie Rumor

On Thursday morning, Sam woke up first. Freddie's alarm had not yet gone off. She could have gone to take a shower, or at least go back to her room… which she never seemed to be in… but she didn't. It was not storming any longer but she still didn't want to leave Freddie. When she was with him, she just felt… happy. She kinda wished it was going to storm again tonight, but only kinda.

Yep, instead of leaving she stayed. Sam snuggled closer to the sleeping techie and buried her face in his chest. To her surprise, he started to stir. "Oh. Good morning Frederly." Sam said affectionately.

"Hey Sam." Freddie said rolling over.

"I'm not being annoying, am I?" she asked. This was uncharacteristically insecure of her to ask, but Sam just felt she needed to know.

"No, Sam, it's fine." Freddie replied, still waking up. "I actually kinda like it." _Oops!_ He thought.

"You like sleeping with me?" Sam asked.

"Uh, yeah… I guess." Freddie said, now fully awake and sitting up in bed. "Is that weird?"

"Well, kinda. You like sleeping with me… and last night you said you liked _kissing_ me…" Sam recounted.

"What are you saying?" he asked, scratching his head.

"Freddie, do you… _like_ me? Sam asked as she held a pillow to her chest and squeezed it.

"I… er, no, I mean—"

"Freddie?" Came a voice from the living room. It was Carly. Suddenly, Freddie's bedroom door swung wide open. "Freddie are you in h— Oh my God!" Carly said.

"Oh, err…, hey Carls." Sam said as she slowly inched toward the edge of the bed and stood up.

"What… why… you…." Carly stuttered. "What were you guys doing?"

"Nothing!" Freddie finally spoke up. The initial shock of being discovered in bed with a girl had worn off. Freddie was just grateful it had not been his mother. "It's, uhh, it's not what it looks like," he stated.

"Yeah, sure, ok." Carly replied, not sure what to say as she looked back and forth from Freddie to Sam and back to Freddie again. "Yeah, it's time to go to school and you guys didn't come over to get a ride so I came to get you." She explained.

Freddie and Sam both jerked their heads towards the clock on Freddie's CD player. Somehow, yesterday, Freddie's alarm had been shut off and he and Sam had slept in. He remembered taking the CD out but swore he put a different one back in.

"Oh, gosh!" Sam said rushing past Carly to her room. "I'll be ready in 2 minutes!" She called from the other room.

"Uh, me too," Freddie told Carly as he quickly got out of bed and threw on a shirt.

Carly was in a daze, not sure what to think. She didn't know what to think. All she knew was that is wasn't what she was thinking as Freddie has so eloquently explained a moment before.

"Um, could you wait in the hall?" Freddie asked holding up a pair of pants, implying that he was about to take off his shorts.

"Oh, sorry," Carly said, snapping out of it and exiting the room. Still not sure what to think, she pulled out her phone and texted Shane. _I just found Sam in bed with Freddie. I'm not sure what to think. Has Freddie mentioned anything to you recently?"_

As soon as she sent the text she felt weird about it. Sure she was dating Shane now, but maybe she should have just waited to talk to her two best friends before talking with him about it.

_OMG, that's hilarious! You think they did anything?_ Shane texted back. Carly didn't reply. She planned to get some more info from Freddie and Sam before talking to Shane anymore about it.

Freddie exited his room a moment later. "OK, I'm ready. Thanks for waiting, Carly." He went to the kitchen and grabbed two breakfast bars; one for him, one for Sam.

"Freddie, why was Sam in your bed?" Carly asked, following him to the kitchen.

"She, uh… I'm not sure I'm allowed to tell you, actually," Freddie replied hesitantly. "You'll have to ask her about that… But I swear, it's what you're thinking."

"What do you think I'm thinking?" Carly asked him, not sure what not to think.

"I'm ready!" Sam called as she exited her room now fully dressed and combing her hair. Freddie tossed her some breakfast.

"Let's go! We don't want to be late," Carly said. "Shane's mom is going to give us a ride," Carly explained as they raced down the stairs. "Spencer has the car today."

The trio piled into the back of Shane's mom's minivan and was off to school. Sam felt awkward about Carly finding her with Freddie so she made a point to sit by her. She planned to explain why she was with him. Freddie was in the back seat with Shane. Shane's mom had the radio very loud and was singing along. How embarrassing for Shane! Luckily for him he could care less.

"Fred, dude," Shane said in a hushed voice once they got going, "Carly told me she caught you and Sam. Nice, man! Sam's really cute. You probably should have set your alarm though." He chuckled.

"It's not like that, man," Freddie whispered back. "We weren't doing anything, she's just… we were just, uh, talking," Freddie said. He couldn't just betray Sam and tell Shane she was afraid of storms.

"Sure, dude, whatever you say," Shane grinned, patting him on the back. _Chiz_ Freddie thought. _Now Shane thinks Sam and I _do_ stuff._

Meanwhile in the middle seats, Sam was whispering very quickly to Carly as she continued to brush her hair.

"… look, it's hard to explain. It's just that as long as I can remember, I've been afraid of storms. I've never told anyone except Freddie a few days ago and you just now." Sam continued in a quick, hushed voice. "When I was little, I would crawl in bed with my parents… actually, I still slept with my mom on stormy nights up until last week. I just need to feel protected."

"Oh my gosh, Sam, I had no idea!" Carly whispered back. "When you sleep over, I've noticed that sometimes you want to spoon or cuddle and other times you don't care either way. It's the storms, isn't it?"

"Freddie found out and he was really cool about it and being with someone makes me feel safe," Sam continued, putting her hairbrush in her bag. "It helps, but storms are still scary. I've been sleeping with almost Freddie every night this week because of all the storms. That's why I was there this morning; I swear we weren't _doing_ anything."

Back in the back seat, Freddie was getting a text from Gibby.

_You and Sam? I almost don't believe it? Did you guys really do it?_

_Double chiz!_ Freddie thought. "You told Gibby?" Freddie said, flicking Shane in the head.

"Ouch! Was I not supposed to?" Shane said.

"No! How many people did you tell?" Freddie asked him.

"I don't know, like ten." Shane said.

"Oh my God, text them all again and tell them nothing happened," Freddie demanded and he replied to Gibby.

_Nothing happened! It's just a rumor._

"Ok, fine Shane said, now attempting to do damage control." I'll tell them all it's just a rumor.

But it was too late for that. Half the school already knew. Throughout the day people kept approaching Sam and Freddie with questions like 'Does the carpet match the drapes.' Wendy tried to get Sam to tell her how 'big' Freddie is. Both Sam and Freddie kept supplying anyone who asked with the simple response "nothing happened."

At lunch Freddie and Sam sat across from each other instead of next to each other like they normally did.

"I feel like I may be partially to blame here," Shane said to Freddie as he took a bite out of his pizza.

"You think?" Freddie said in disgust. "Why did you think that telling ten people I slept with Sam was a good idea?"

"So did you, or did Carly make it up?" Shane asked.

"Does it matter?" Freddie replied. "Today has been so awkward."

"My bad, guys," Shane said.

"I'm sorry too you guys," Carly said to both Sam and Freddie. I should have asked you guys about it before I told Mr. Blabbermouth over here," Carly said gesturing towards Shane.

"I guess you're mad at me now, aren't you," Shane asked Carly.

"Well, yeah a little," Carly said truthfully, "But I know you didn't mean to upset Sam and Freddie.

"I'm not upset," Sam said. "I've just been telling people that someone made it up," Sam said. "I don't care what they think about me.

"Yeah, me too," Freddie said. "But it feels a little weird lying."

"So you actually did sleep together?" Shane asked clearly still confused.

"Ok," Carly said before Shane got hit, "Let's talk about something else. How about the football game tomorrow?"

"I think we're gonna loose, but I still wanna go to cheer for Gibby," Freddie said, taking another bite form his pizza.

"Nah, man, we're so much better this year. I think we can win." Shane said.

By the end of lunch, most people had settled down about "The Seddie Rumor." By the end of the school day only Gibby was still convinced that it actually happened.


	11. Sisters

I just realized I sorta made Shane a hipster. This was unintentional. Oh well, Shane calls Freddie 'Fred' and says dude a lot. Apparently Carly finds that endearing.

* * *

"Ok, guys, we're here," Gibby said as he stopped in front of Bushwell Plaza. Carly, Sam, and Freddie piled out of his car. "Thanks for the ride home, Gibs," Sam said as she closed the car door. "You two behave now," He said, gesturing towards Freddie and Sam. "I told you it is just a rumor!" Freddie said defensively. Gibby chuckled as he drove off.

"Why do you care what Gibby thinks?" Sam asked Freddie as they entered the front door. He did not respond.

"Sorry again about telling the world… you know," Carly said as they made their way up the stairs. She was referring to the rumor that they had slept together.

"It's not a big deal, really," Sam said absentmindedly as she attempted to write a text while climbing stairs. "I should have told you about my fear sooner anyway." She said once she put her phone in her pocket

"You guys coming over to rehearse iCarly?" Carly asked once they reached the 8th floor. Just then, Freddie's phone buzzed. It was the text from Sam.

_I think we need to talk. Lets go home, not to Carlys_

"Yeah, I'll be over in a few. I'm gonna get a snack first," Freddie said, putting away his phone and opening the door to his apartment.

"Me too," Sam said following him in. "See you in a few."

Sam closed the door, walked past Freddie, and plopped down onto the couch.

"So, what's up, Sam?" Freddie asked, already having a pretty good idea of what was up.

"You've been acting weird," Sam said sounding concerned. This was very unusual for her. "You don't like the idea of people thinking we mess around. Why?"

"We don't mess around and I don't want people assuming something that isn't true," he answered as he moved past her and sat on the couch next to her. "I also don't like lying to people…"

"You never answered my question this morning, either," Sam said

"What question?" Freddie asked.

"Freddie. Do you like me?" Sam asked.

Freddie once again began to stutter. "I, uh, we… you know…"

"You enjoy being with me on stormy nights and you prefer my lips over Carly's. Do you like me? Yes or no." Sam asked, making it simple for him. Her eyes met his.

"I… er… uh…yes. Yes, I do." Freddie replied timidly. Sam's eyes lit up and her heart began to pound.

"So.. uh, so… you don't like that people think we mess around because you actually want to do it?" she asked sounding both hopeful and excited. Freddie somehow didn't notice either emotion.

"Wait, wait. Hold on. What about you, Sam?" Freddie said, feeling like the conversation was just a little one sided. "You liked the kiss too and you didn't seem too keen to leave this morning. You're the one with the question—what's your answer. Do you like me too?"

Sam said nothing. She simply stared into Freddie's eyes longingly. He met her gaze as they slowly shifted closer to each other. And then, out of nowhere, they grabbed each other and began to make out. Freddie pushed Sam onto the couch and trailed kissed down her neck as she grabbed handfuls of his shirt…. (a/n, just kidding. Did I get you again? Remember the fakeout makeout in chapter 6?) … and then Carly walks in on them again… (no seriously, just kidding.)

Sam said nothing. She simply stared into Freddie's eyes, unable to find words that expressed how she felt. Freddie sighed.

"I get it," he said. "You don't like me. You were probably hoping I'd say no, worried I'd say yes." Sam's jaw dropped in disbelief. He couldn't have it more wrong. Freddie continued. "Maybe I just like that a girl is in my bed. I know that's why I was weird about the rumor…"

Sam was finally snapping out of her stupor. She had to let Freddie know he had it wrong… but she was just so bad at expressing her emotions. She didn't know what to say. Freddie rambled on.

" I didn't mean to weird you out, honestly. You're a good friend and I'm here for you. Sorry that I let my feelings get out of hand. It won't happen ag-" Freddie didn't finish that sentence because Sam had put her hand over his mouth.

"Freddie," Sam said, "Shut up." She then removed her hand, leaned forward, and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. (A real kiss. Not a fake makey-outy kiss. Sam really kissed him.)

Freddie and Sam slowly inched their faces away from one another so that they could make eye contact. Both were still speechless. Before either could say anything, the front door made a clicking noise and swung wide open. Freddie jumped back and both Sam and Freddie turned towards the door looking very guilty.

Carly bounded into the room looking very excited. She noticed Sam and Freddie's awkward expressions. "Um, did I interrupt something?" Carly asked, eyeing their suspicious looks with… suspicion.

Freddie spoke up first. "No. Nothing, we were just… uh… talking." He said stupidly.

"About what we wanted for a snack," Sam continued.

"And we both agreed…" Freddie added.

"That we weren't hungry?" Sam finished. It was more of a question than a statement. They glanced at each other and then back at Carly with forced smiles.

"Okay, sure, whatever." Carly said enthusiastically. She seemed so excited that she didn't really care what they had been doing. "You guys need to come over ASAP! Sam! Spencer has a surprise for you!"

"What is it?" she asked as she walked back towards that door.

"Just come over!" Carly said grabbing Sam by the hand and dragging her out into the hall. "Come on, Freddie!" Carly called.

Sam was dragged by Carly into her apartment followed closely by Freddie. Sitting in the living room were Spencer, Mrs. Benson, and a new woman that Sam did not recognize.

"What's going on?" Sam asked, sitting in the black chair closest to the door. Carly and Freddie stood behind her.

"Sam!" Spencer said, sounding very excited. "I would like you to meet Socko's cousin, Sue! She's my new lawyer!"

"Hello, Samantha," said Sue. Sue looked to be about Spencer's age. Her dark brown hair was pulled back in a tight bun and she had on sexy-librarian glasses. "Earlier this week Spencer and Marissa approached me with your situation. They say that you would like to be adopted by Spencer but that Miss. Thomas from social services would not allow it.

"Uh, yeah, that's right. I'm living with Mrs. Benson now." Sam replied.

"Well, if this is still your wish then I can make your wish come true, so-to-speak," said Sue.

Sam's jaw dropped. Carly was still jumping up and down with excitement and Freddie's face was plastered with a smile.

"Spencer's father, Colonel Stephen Shay, is able and willing to adopt you and through a rather complicated and specific sequence of actions I can arrange for Spencer to be your guardian just like the way he is Carly's guardian." Sue explained.

"Sam! We're going to be sisters!" Carly said. "My dad wants to adopt you!"

"Spencer and I contacted him on Tuesday while you were still at school," Mrs. Benson explained. "He filled out all the paperwork as soon as possible and I received it in the mail this morning."

"Soo…" Spencer cut in. "Mrs. B and I just have to sign a few papers and I'll legally be your brother and your guardian until you are 18." Spencer explained.

"Oh, my gosh! You're kidding!" Sam said jumping up. She ran over to Spencer as he stood up too and hugged him. "Thank you Spence, thank you!" Sam turned to Mrs. Benson. "You too Mrs. Benson. Thank you so much for letting me live with you this week and being my foster mom."

"You are very welcome dear," Mrs. Benson said and she too stood and hugged Sam.

"Actually," Sue said as she stood up. "Speaking of being a foster parent, Miss. Thomas heard about our little plan to circumnavigate her authority and she was not very happy about it."

"Can she do anything to stop us?" Sam asked, suddenly sounding worried.

"Well, yes and no," Sue said.

"Social services has put me on probation." Mrs. Benson said.

"What does that mean?" asked Freddie sounding worried. He didn't want his mom to go to jail or something.

"It's actually sort of complicated." Mrs. Benson explained. "I am still your foster parent for now but starting Monday you will be assigned to a different foster home permanently.

"Oh, no!" Carly said.

"But," Sue cut in, "This is not a problem because Marissa can approve an adoption until that time and she is eligible to adopt you as well."

"I thought I was living here," Sam said, sounding confused.

"Marissa can approve the adoption but she needs to do it today," Sue said. "You need to make a decision today, Sam or you will be transferred to a different foster family. We wanted to give you at least two options. Do you want to be adopted by Colonel Shay or Mrs. Benson?"

"So, basically," Spencer said. "do you want to live with me and be Carly's sister, or live with Mrs. B and be Freddie's sister?

_Freddie's sister?_ Sam jerked her head towards Freddie. His facial expression was difficult to read but the thought of being her brother clearly bothered him as much as it bothered her.

"I want to live with you and be Carly's sister!" Sam half shouted.

"Yay!" Carly said, running over to Sam and hugging her. This is going to be so awesome! I mean, you practically lived here before anyway but we are actually going to be sisters!"

"Wonderful," Sue said. "Let's sign some papers, shall we?" She said to Spencer and Mrs. Benson.

"Carly, take Sam upstairs and tell her about my other surprise!" Spencer said and he happily followed Sue into the kitchen to where the adoption papers were.

Carly, Sam, and Freddie made their way up the stairs. "What's the other surprise?" Freddie asked as they reached the second floor.

"Spencer was pretty sure that Sam would pick living here," Carly explained. "and at first he were going to put up a wall in the back half of the studio and make you a little bedroom up there… but then I thought, why not share a room?"

The trio entered Carly's bedroom as Carly began to share her plan. "There is plenty of room in here for us to share." Carly said. "That closet is huge and any clothes you can't fit in there you can put in your dresser which we'll put where my makeup desk is. I've been thinking about moving my desk to this corner for a while anyway." Carly said pointing to the corner of the room just to the right of the door as you enter. "Oh, and you'll probably want your own bed. I was thinking we could put it against the wall where the coffee table is and we can pull the table and couch back to the area between my bed and the closet."

"Oh my gosh, Carly this sounds so amazing!" Sam said.

"Your room is gonna look great." Freddie added.

"When did you and Spencer plan the room arrangement?" Sam asked. "How long have you known?"

"I actually just thought of the room arrangement a few minutes ago while Sue was telling you the good news." Carly explained. "I didn't know you were going to live here until five minutes ago, when you two went to go get your snack." Carly stated.

"Oh, hey," Sam started. "I think Freddie and I have something we should tell you."

"We do?" Freddie asked skeptically, not sure he wanted Carly to know that he liked Sam just yet.

"Yeah. You know what I'm talking about, dork," Sam said thumping him on the head. "We made a promise after Carly found out about our first kiss. No more secrets."

"Wait a minute, you didn't exactly tell us about your fear of…" Freddie started. He quickly shut up upon receiving a death glare from Sam.

"Uh, ok," Carly said eyeing Freddie and Sam suspiciously… again. "So what's your secret?" she asked.

Sam nervously looked from Carly to Freddie and then back to Carly again. She then took a deep breath. "I like Freddie," she said. Carly's jaw dropped.

* * *

To my Frans:

I got a few comments about Creddie. :-) I know many of my readers won't believe this when I say it but I am actually a huge Seddie fan AND a huge Creddie fan. I see no reason to argue about Creddie vs Seddie. I actually have a Creddie story called iDate a Dorkboy, based on the episode iDate a Badboy. For those of you who appreciate both ships, check it out. For my strictly Seddie readers, if you like this story then check out my other stories. I recommend "OMG", "Those Four Words" and "iGo Camping." They are my other Seddie stories and they are just as good as this one.

Pock

PS Sorry for another cliffhanger… well, maybe I'm not sorry. ;-)

PPS You should all comment. Seriously, I am very busy but I have this whole story in my head somewhere. The more comments I get, the more motivated I will be to skip sleeping and bring you more iHate My Roommate.

PPPS Sorry for the fake out make out… or am I? ;-)


	12. The Wedding

"_Yeah. You know what I'm talking about, dork," Sam said thumping him on the head. "We made a promise after Carly found out about our first kiss. No more secrets."_

"_Wait a minute, you didn't exactly tell us about your fear of…" Freddie started. He quickly shut up upon receiving a death glare from Sam._

_"Uh, ok," Carly said eyeing Freddie and Sam suspiciously… again. "So what's your secret?" she asked._

_Sam nervously looked from Carly to Freddie and then back to Carly again. She then took a deep breath. "I like Freddie," she said. Carly's jaw dropped._

* * *

Carly let out an audible gasp as her mouth dropped wide open.

Sam turned to Freddie. "D…don't you have something to say?" she stuttered at him.

Carly turned to Freddie. She still also had a look of bewilderment on her face. "I _like_ her too," Freddie said.

"Oh my God, you're kidding," Carly said. "How long have you liked each other!" Carly asked.

Sam was now blushing like mad. All of her instincts told her to just run away, but she just couldn't cave in. No more secrets.

"I…" Sam faltered again. "I don't know," she said truthfully. She turned to Freddie. "I think I've liked your for awhile. Maybe even since the kiss… I've just been, I don't know, lying to myself I guess."

It was so much easier to tell Freddie this with Carly there beside her. Carly truly was her best friend and just being there for her gave Sam courage.

"Ever since you moved in I've been thinking about you a lot more," Freddie said. "We've been getting along a lot better ever since you told me your secret about the storms. I guess when I realized you had a weakness I also realized that you're a girl too… a very attractive girl," Freddie added awkwardly.

"So are you guys like, dating or something?" Carly asked, not sure what to think. Sam and Freddie looked at each other awkwardly. Neither of them wanted to answer.

"Well, um… not… yet," Freddie said.

"Freddie, I don't want our friendship to get all weird," Sam said.

"Ok," Freddie said as an idea formed in his head, "Sam I don't want you to be my girlfriend… at least not yet. We can take it slow and if it's too weird we'll go back to being just friends…"

"Ok," Sam replied. "I think I like that idea," Sam said. "So, we don't have to be all nice and go on dates and stuff?"

"Nope," Freddie said, "we'll just keep hanging out like we always do… and if you feel like holding my hand, then you can hold it. And if you feel like calling me names you can do that too."

"You guys are so weird," Carly said with a smile. "Anyways, thanks for telling me you guys. It means a lot to me that you didn't keep this a secret."

"Ha ha, yeah, we sort of just found out we like each other about 15 minutes ago." Freddie said.

"And to think, you guys were just one step away from becoming brother and sister if Freddie's mom had adopted you," Carly said to Sam.

Freddie and Sam both shared yet another awkward look.

"Yeah… that would have been a little weird," Sam said.

"Caaaarlaaaaaaay" Spencer's voice came from down stairs.

"Whaaaat?" Carly called back down.

"Are you guys ready for the wedding?" Spencer called.

'What!" Sam said. "First of all, how did he find out so quickly, and second, I really don't think we are ready to get married."

"We haven't even held hands." Freddie said jokingly. "Wait, I can fix that," he grabbed Sam's hand and laced his fingers with hers. Sam rolled her eyes but did not attempt to remove Freddie's hand from her own.

"He's not talking about you two," Carly said. "He's talking about the green and pink bottlebots! Remember, Spencer invited us to their wedding in chapter 5."

"Um, Carly I think you just broke the 4th wall," Freddie said.

"Oh, I guess I did… anyway, he told us about it on Monday when Shane was over, remember."

"Oh, yeah, I remember," Sam said. "I thought that was a joke."

"Nope," Carly said, "he told me he talked to the Jewish pastor at the synagogue on 8th street. He's letting us do a ceremony there today." Carly said as she left the room and went down the stairs.

"Pfft. Your brother is so weird," Sam said after Carly. "Well, come on. Let's go!" Sam let go of Freddie's hand, punch him in the shoulder, and then raced down the stairs. Freddie rubbed his shoulder where she hit him but he couldn't hold back a smile. He happily followed Sam down the stairs.

Spencer told everyone the plan once they entered the living room. "Socko already helped me move the bottlebots down to the synagogue on Wednesday. His brothers Tyler and Taylor helped me make a convincing looking veil and tie." Spencer explained. "Freddie, do you think you wanna film the wedding for the webshow? I think your fans will like it."

"That's a great idea!" Carly said. "Freddie, get your camera."

"Okay," Freddie said stepping into the elevator.

"Hey, is Shane coming?" Sam asked Carly.

"Yeah," she said texting away on her phone. "I already reminded him and he says he'll meet us there.

"Awesome. Okay, people, let's go!" Spencer said as the elevator opened reveling Freddie with his camera. They all piled in and went down to the lobby.

"Good night guys," Freddie said as he and Sam entered his apartment later that night.

"See ya tomorrow," Carly said and she and Spencer went home too.

"Did you get some good footage and pics?" Sam asked as she plopped down on the couch. Freddie set his camera on the coffee table and took out the memory card.

"Haha, yeah, I've got enough to make a little video for our fans. Oh, and I'm going to post some of the pictures on SpaceBook.

"You still use SpaceBook? Sam asked slightly dumbfounded.

"Oh, no, I meant SplashFace. No, I don't use SpaceBook anymore… I don't know anyone who does, I just said the wrong word.

"Hey, you wanna play Game Station 360?" Sam said, grabbing two controllers.

"Yeah, just let me put this stuff in my room," he said picking up the camera and memory stick.

Sam was loading her Warrior Elf character when Freddie came back. "Hey, be Mr. Fluffy again. He's still not very good when the computer controls him." Sam said. Freddie sat down next to Sam and picked up the other controller.

"Hey, what town were we going t—" Freddie stopped midsentence in surprise. Sam had leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "I, uh… thanks." Freddie blushed.

"I've kinda wanted to do that all evening," Sam said with a smirk. "And to answer your question, we were heading to Terrorvale to deliver a message to the blacksmith there.

"Oh, yeah," Freddie said regaining his composure. "Wait, before you leave town, climb the guard tower at the south gate and take the potions out of the chest at the top. You'll need them in Terrorvale for a quest. The guard shouldn't notice, he'll be asleep I think…"

Freddie helped guide Sam through the RPG and gained a lot of experience for Mr. Fluffy. In Terrorvale, Sam found a ring that her character can ware that adds fire damage to Mr. Fluffy's claw attack. "And you can get two more rings that give him ice breath and poison wings but that's not until later in the game." Freddie explained. "You can get similar rings for your other hand that add elemental attacks to your sword or arrows. Those rings are more difficult to get…"

"How do you remember all this stuff?" Sam asked. "You're such a dork, Freddie."

Around 10pm Sam saved the game in an inn owned by a greedy dwarf who she was doing missions for.

"Hey, we should probably go to bed, Sam," Freddie said. "It's already 10 and if we sleep in again Gibby will never stop teasing me."

"Yeah, I'm getting tired anyway," Sam said as she turned off his Game Station.

Freddie stood up and walked towards his room. He found himself wishing that it was raining so that Sam would join him in his room again. "Good night, Sam." He said.

"Good night, Freddie," Sam said as he closed the door behind him, wishing she could be with him on the other side of the door… but it wasn't raining and she didn't want things to get weird. Sam had to cuddle with a pillow instead.

* * *

So yeah, just in case you didn't notice, SpaceBook is my version of MySpace and Spashface is kind of a combination of Facebook and YouTube. I put that in because I don't personally know anyone who still uses MySpace. And Game Station 360 is a combination of PlayStation and xBox. Also, "breaking the 4th wall" is when a character in a story acknowledges that they are in a story or speaks directly to the audience.


	13. Grubbly

"Just go ask her!" Carly encouraged. "Tell her how you feel." She added, knowingly.

"I don't know," Gibby replied. "I don't wanna mess up our friendship." Gibby gazed over towards Wendy across the cafeteria at school. Freddie and Sam both knew how he felt… to like someone and just not know how to tell them.

"Wendy will say yes, Gibby." Sam told him. "Look, just trust us okay!"

"I'm not so sure I'd trust you," Freddie said smugly. "Carly probably, but you—" Sam thumped Freddie in the head. He just chuckled and Sam couldn't help but smile back at him. Actually, they had been sharing goofy smiles all day.

"What's up with you two?" Gibby asked Sam and Freddie.

"Never mind," Carly said, in a hushed voice. "Here she comes!" Wendy was walking over to their lunch table talking to Shane.

"… and the moose was just sitting there!" Shane said to her. Wendy was laughing at his story.

"What on earth were those lobsters thinking?" she asked, setting her lunch tray down next to Gibby. Shane sat on the other side of Gibby, across from Carly.

Shane and Wendy began making lobster motions. "Grub grub grub…" Shane said impersonating the lobsters.

"Hey, guys how's it going? Wendy said, still laughing, to the table as a whole.

"You guys saw the new episode of Unnatural Hunters on the Nature Channel last night?" Gibby asked.

"Yeah, it was hilarious!" Wendy said. "That show is so silly."

"There's a new episode of Moose Tracks on Saturday. You should come over and we'll watch it together," Gibby said.

"That sounds great." Wendy said, tearing open a bag of chips."

"Great," Gibby smiled. "Then it's a date."

Wendy blushed. "Oh, um… cool." She said shyly.

Just then the bell rang.

"Hey, we should get back to class early," Freddie said to Sam. "We present our project first."

"Bye guys." Gibby said standing up from the table.

"See ya later Carls," Sam said.

Freddie, Sam, and Gibby headed back to Science since they had first lunch while Carly, Shane, and Wendy stayed for second lunch.

"Hey, Gibby, I'm not so sure Wendy knows you asked her out. You sort of just… asked her to come over," Freddie said in the hallway.

"I know I just got nervous I guess," Gibby responded.

When they got to the classroom, Freddie plugged in his UGC memory drive into the QPT driver port. The rest of the class filed in as the Powerslide loaded. Once class started, Freddie and Sam took turns reading out slides and explaining what they meant. The presentation lasted 8 minutes.

"Wow, Sam," their teacher said once they finished. "This is the best work I've seen from you ever! Perhaps I'll have to pair you with Freddie again next time."

Sam gave Freddie a mischievous grin and Freddie just rolled his eyes.

While Gibby and his project partner set up their diorama, Freddie and Sam sat down in the back of class. "Hey," Freddie said to Sam. "I never really thanked you for doing all that work on the project." Freddie reached into his pocket and pulled out a small Zip-Stop bag with about 6 pieces of bacon inside. Sam's eyes lit up.

"Oh, Freddie you are such a handsome, intelligent boy!" she said as she grabbed the bag from his hand and started munching down on her reward. _I know we're taking it slow,_ Sam thought, _whatever that means… but I'll have to remember to kiss him later for this._

* * *

It was about 6:30pm. The football game started at 7:00. "Saaaaaam," Carly called up the stair of her apartment "Come on, we gotta get going!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming," Sam said, bounding down the stairs wearing Ridgeway's school colors. "Where is Shane?" Sam asked.

"Oh, Freddie and Shane worked out today," Carly reminded Sam. "Freddie told me they would meet us there."

Carly and Sam raced down the stairs to the parking garage where Carly's little car was waiting for them.

"So," Carly asked as they got in the car. "How are you and Freddie?"

Sam suddenly remembered she owed him a kiss for the bacon. "I feel great!" Sam replied. "Its really awesome to be able to just be open with him, you know? I don't have to hide my feelings anymore."

"That's great, Sam," Carly said. "I'm really happy for both of you."

* * *

"Wow, halftime already?" Freddie said, turning to Sam, Carly, and Shane.

"WHAT?" Sam bellowed over the crowd of unreasonably loud fans.

"I SAID I CAN'T BELIEVE THE GAME IS HALF OVER!" Freddie shouted.

"HEY, LETS GO GET SOME SNACKS," Sam said to Freddie. He nodded loudly. (WTF?) "Hey, Carly... CARLY!" Sam said. "FREDDIE AND I ARE GETTING SNACKS!"

Sam took Freddie by the wrist and lead him down the bleachers. It was a little less loud over here.

"Woah, that line is crazy long," Freddie said when he saw the line for concessions. "You really want to wait for like 20 minutes?"

Sam just laughed. "No, you nub, I don't even want a snack." Freddie remained a little confused as Sam lead him around and then under the bleachers. Here they were alone.

"Sam what are we-" Sam grabbed Freddie by the collar and kissed him square on the mouth. It took him a moment to realize what was happening, but he kissed her back in time.

The surprise make-out session lasted about 2 minutes before Sam pulled away with a smirk. "Wow," Freddie said, also smiling. "What was that for?"

"My bacon," Sam said matter-of-factly. Freddie just smiled, leaned in, and kissed her again for almost another minute.

"What was that one for?" Sam asked with a giggle. "I just like you," Freddie said smiling stupidly. Sam just laughed.

"Hey, lets get back to Carly before they suspect anything." Sam said.

* * *

(If you don't care about football you can skip this section.)

"THEY ARE DOING REALLY WELL!" Carly said to Sam and Freddie, referring to the football team.

"YEAH! I CAN'T BELIEVE HOW MUCH STAMINA GIBBY HAS!" Sam replied. Gibby snapped the ball every single play and quite often ended up running 5 or 10 yards to throw some really good blocks.

"HE'S LIKE A TANK!" Shane added from the other side of Carly.

Ridgeway was down by just 4 points but they needed another touchdown to win. The clock slowly ran down below 1 minute as the Ridgeway Bulldogs charged down the field.

The quarterback called time out to stop the clock. 30 seconds remained, it was 3rd down, and the Bulldogs were out of timeouts. If the next play didn't work they would need to quickly get back on the line and try again on the 4th down or the game would be lost.

As the Bulldogs huddled, the cheerleaders could be seen on the sidelines chanting their cheers. Wendy stuck out amongst them, being the only one with red hair.

The linemen, Gibby included, lined up again at the ball, ready to defend the quarterback for another play. Number 12 took the snap and pitched it out the the running back. The running back then ran left for a few yards before he stopped and pitched it back to number 12.

"IT'S A TRICK PLAY!" Freddie shouted as the entire defense ran one way and the quarterback ran the other with the ball. One defending linebacker saw the trick, however, and followed number 12 to the right. Gibby pulled right as well and blocked the rusher well but number 12 was feeling the pressure... he threw the ball as hard as he could to an unguarded receiver halfway down the field. He caught the ball and ran as far as he could. The defense caught up with him at the 3 yard-line. He was so close to scoring but he fell just short.

With only 10 seconds and no timeouts, it was do or die for the bulldogs. The offense got set as number 12 barked out the play. It was the same play, just to the right instead. As the clock ran down... 5... 4... 3... 2... Gibby snapped the ball just in time and the play was off.

This time two defenders recognized that it was the same play, just in reverse and Gibby could not block them both. Number 12 threw the ball but he was too low! A linebacker jumped up and knocked the ball down. Gibby was tired but he was a good lineman and he was always aware of where the ball was. He turned as the ball was hit, ran backwards, and caught it just in time.

Both linebackers were confused to see an offensive lineman with the ball. Gibby turned up the field and stiff armed a defender to the ground hard. The quarterback threw all of his weight into the other one as Gibby ran past them both. At this point he had only a few yard to go but there were three more defenders closed enough to stop him.

"Rrrrraaaaaah, Giiibbaaaaay!" He shouted as he smashed through 1... 2... all 3 defenders and stumbled into the end zone as time expired. They won! Gibby had saved the game for the Bulldogs!

The crowd and cheerleaders went wild, especially Wendy...

* * *

(If you don't care about football start reading here.)

Freddie made his way through the crowd at the after party at some football player's house. Gibby and Wendy were nowhere to be found. Partying wasn't really Gibby's thing anyway. This was by far the craziest party Freddie had ever been at. He was being responsible though and didn't have any alcohol... he'd only had 2 cups of punch.

"Ohh...ho... hiya, Sammy!" Freddie said when he found Sam. "Where hhave you beeen?" he said with a hic-up.

"I was playing a prank on some cheerleaders, where have you been?" Sam asked, looking worried. "What are you drinking, Benson?"

"Oh, he he he, this punch is awesome!" he said back.

"Uhg, you nub. The punch has alcohol in it! You're supposed to be the responsible one here, dummy"

"Um... oh," he said laughing. "Weeeell, we better go find Carly then, cuz she's had like 5 of these things," he said pointing at his cup.

Sam motioned for Freddie to follow her. He tried and stumbled a little bit. Sam laughed at him, grabbed him by the wrist, and dragged him through the house.

"Caaarly!" Sam yelled as she pushed past crowds of people. "Caarly!"

"I don't see her, Sam," Freddie said.

"We should probably get her home before Spencer gets mad," Sam said. "Lets look upstairs."

Freddie grabbed the handrail as they went upstairs. They passed two or three couples making out in the hallway upstairs. It took Sam a few moments to realize that one of the couples was Shane and Carly.

"Come on, Carly, lets go somewhere else," Shane said, pulling Carly towards a bedroom. Both Carly and Shane were clearly drunk.

"Um, ok..." Carly said.

"Oh, no you don't," Sam said. "Shane! What do you think you're doing?" Sam said in a raised voice. He looked a little panicked and not quite himself.

"Um, whose there? Sam? Fred?" Shane said.

"Yeah, its us. I don't care what you were planning but you're drunk, man," Freddie told him as Sam took Carly by the wrist.

"We're going home, Carls," Sam said.

"Shane, get a ride home," Freddie said.

The three headed down the stairs, Carly (and Freddie) both stumbling a little. "Wow, this is totally backwards," Sam said.

"He he he," Carly said. "You look pretty, Sam," Carly said. "Where's Shane?"

"How much punch did you have?" Sam asked as she led Carly to Carly's car with Freddie walking mostly straight behind them.

"Like five cups," Carly said.

Sam lead her to the passenger side. "Give me your keys." Sam took Carly's keys and loaded her very drunk friend into the front seat and her almost drunk, not-so-secret crush into the back seat.

"Thanks, Sam," Freddie said from the back seat. Carly was already asleep in the front.

"You owe me, nub" she said with a smile.

* * *

–

Carly, Freddie, and Sam took the elevator up to the iCarly studio and then went down the stairs to Carly's room from there.

"What were you guys thinking, drinking that punch?" Sam asked.

"How was I supposed to know there was beer in it?" Freddie asked, now acting much more in control of his own body. "Oh, hey, Carly, are you okay?"

"Huh, uh," Carly said.

"Oh, chiz," Sam said, quickly leading Carly straight to the bathroom. They made it just in time for Carly to puke in the toilet. Sam leaned down and held Carly's hair out of her face.

"Wow, this is sooo backwards," Sam said again. A few minutes later, Carly had stopped.

"Ugh, I feel terrible. I think I'm sick," Carly said.

"No, honey, it was the punch from the party," Sam told her. "People put alcohol in punch." Carly frowned. "Its ok, Carls, you didn't know." Sam lead Carly to her bed.

"Oh, man, I feel really bad about this," Freddie said. "I shouldn't have let her drink that much."

"Honestly, Freddie, I'm surprised you didn't know that people do that sort of thing all the time... then again, I'm not surprised that much."

"You gonna be okay, Carly?" Freddie asked. Carly did not respond, she was already asleep.

"She does _not_ hold her alcohol very well," Sam chuckled.

"We should probably go home, Sam. It's late." Freddie said. Sam followed Freddie down the stairs and over to their apartment It was 11:30.

"You gonna be okay, dude?" Sam asked as she came back out of her room 10 minutes later dressed in her pajamas. Freddie had also changed and was sitting on the couch.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I didn't drink very much," he said. Sam came over and sat by him, looking a little upset. "Are you worried about Carly?" Freddie asked.

"Oh, no, she's fine," Sam said. "I... I'm glad I'm moving in with Carly tomorrow... but I kinda wish I could stay here... with you, you know?"

Freddie smiled. "Yeah, I know what you mean. But, if we're gonna try this whole relationship thing, or you know, liking each other openly or whatever you want to call it... maybe it would be better if we're not living together." Freddie said. "Cus living with you kinda makes me feel like you're my sister or something, you know?"

"Really? A sister? That's funny dude," Sam said. "No, I get it I guess." she said. "I'm just gonna..." Sam cut off.

"You're going to what?" Freddie prompted.

"I'm going to miss you... um, you know, the rainstorms. I'mgoingtomissyouwhenitrains." Sam finished quickly.

"Oh," Freddie said smiling. "I liked being there for you," he said. "You know I'll still be there for you," Freddie said. "I'll just be over here for you and not over there for you." he said pointing towards Carly's apartment

Sam laughed. "You're such a dork. Look its late. I'm going to bed." Sam looked out the window. There wasn't a cloud in sight... no Freddie tonight. "I'll, um, just go in here then," Sam said entering her room.

"Good night Sam," Freddie said. He checked the window too. _Oh, come on. _He thought. _ Its her last night... I wish it would rain just one more time._

It could have been the alcohol, but Freddie decided he was going to be with Sam tonight, rain or not. He went over to Sam's room instead of his own and knocked on the door.

"Um... come in?" Sam said. Freddie opened the door to find Sam laying in her bed. She had been about to turn off the lamp and go to bed.

"You're not going to be her tomorrow night," Freddie said matter-of-factly.

"Um, yeah," Sam said a little confused.

"I feel funny... you know, the punch," Freddie said

"What do you want me to do about it?" Sam asked.

"Well, when you felt bad, you came over and slept with me..." Freddie continued. "And now I feel bad." He tried to smile. She was going to tell him to leave, he just knew it.

"Oh," Sam smiled. "Well... what are you waiting for?" she asked. Sam scooted over and made room for him. Freddie smiled and joined her.

"Thanks for stopping me earlier, Sam," Freddie said. "I probably would have drank a lot more."

Sam turned off the lamp. "Hey, no problem, dude," Sam said. "Its the least I owe you."

Freddie laid on his side, facing away from Sam. Sam decided it would be funny to make Freddie the little spoon, so she put her arm around him and spooned with him. Freddie just smiled. It felt a little backwards, but Freddie didn't care.

Suddenly, there was a crash of thunder outside and it started to poor. Sam jumped a mile high. Freddie did his best not to laugh.

"What the chiz, dude," Sam said holding Freddie much tighter. . "Where did this storm come from."

"I'm here, Sam," Freddie said.

"Thanks, Freddie," Sam said. "I'm glad you're here, weather its storming or not." Sam nuzzled her nose into the back of Freddie's head and they both smiled.

* * *

"Uuugh," Carly said to Sam the next morning. "I'm never drinking anything ever again ever." Sam and Freddie were moving Carly and Sam's things around their bedroom. Carly was rolling around on the bed doing nothing.

"There's just one more thing in my apartment," Freddie said. "I'll be right back."

"Well Carly, thanks for helping," Sam said sarcastically as Freddie went to get the last of her things from his apartment.

"No, thank you," Carly said sitting up. "I was drunk last night... it was weird. And if Shane was really acting how you said he was then I could have been in trouble."

"Oh, Shane probably wasn't going to try anything, but you never know," Sam said. You should probably send him an angry text or something," Sam said absentmindedly.

"If I felt any better, Sam, I'd be jumping all over the room," Carly said. "I'm really excited about you living here."

"Hey, Carly," Sam said.

"What's up?" Carly asked.

"Since you know about, you know, my problem with storms... would you be okay with me sharing your bed some nights instead of my sleeping over there," Sam said pointing across their room to where her bed was sitting.

"Of course, Sam," Carly said.

"Here it is," Freddie said, walking in with... something.

"What is that, that's not mine," Sam said.

"It is now," Freddie said, giving her the stuffed animal. It sort of looked like a blue teddy bear, just with a goofy face and little horns. "I honestly don't know what it it, but it kinda reminds me of you. Anyways, I've had it for awhile but I don't want it so I decided yesterday to give it to you when you moved out. I thought maybe you could … hug it when its storming..." Freddie said hesitantly. "Um, I know that might be a little weird but I thought maybe—" Sam hopped up and gave Freddie a huge hug.

"He's so cute!" Sam said looking at the devil-monkey-bear...thing. "Thanks Freddie, I love it! And... yeah, I'll keep him with me at night. But I've got Carly now if the storms get really bad.

Carly smiled. "That was really sweet of you, Freddie," Carly said, looking at the monkey-bear.

"If you guys don't mind, I'm going to shower," Carly said. "I feel gross." Carly grobbed some clothes, went to her bathroom, and closed the door.

"Hey, come here," Sam said in a half whisper. Not knowing what was up, Freddie moved closer. Sam surprised him again with another kiss on the lips.

"Wow," Freddie said with a smirk. "You know, I never see that coming."

"That was for Grubbly," Sam said. Freddie looked confused until Sam held the blue devil-panda in his face. "I think Grubbly likes you!" Sam said, going 'graww graaa graw' in his face.

Freddie laughed. "Wow. Well, I'm glad you like him. I'm glad you like me too," Freddie said.

"Yeah," Sam said. "You're not so bad for a dork."

"And you're pretty cute yourself," Freddie said.

Sam held back a blush. "I'm... going to miss being your roommate, Freddie."

"You know, I thought I was going to hate it, but I actually enjoyed having you there. I'm going to miss it too, Sam."

"Hey, you wanna go get a smoothie?" Sam asked him.

"At 10:30 am?" Freddie said.

"Yeah! They open at 10 on Saturdays." Sam tossed Grubbly onto her bed, grabbed Freddie by the wrist, and headed for the door.

* * *

This is the last chapter guys. I did my best to tie up any loose ends. I've got a sequel in the works. "iStill Hate My Roommate" (iCarly goes to college.) It would take place 2 years after this story. Let me know what you think, about a sequel, about this chapter, about the story... anything. Just review!


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